


. ■ 

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{LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. J 



MANUAL OF EDUCATION: 



BRIEF HISTORY 



OF THE 



Af^ 



kit] slmul nstitttteef; njftrtt#m, 



INCLUDING 



A SYNOPSIS OF ANNUAL AND OTHER MEETINGS, 

LIST OF OFFICERS AND MEMBERS, 

TOGETHER WITH 

THE CONSTITUTION AND CHARTER, 




EDWIN MARTIN STONE. 




PROVIDENCE: 

PROVIDENCE PRESS COMPANY, PRINTERS. 
18 7 4. 



V N " 



PREFACE 



The following pages have been written at the request of the Rhode 
Island Institute of Instruction, expressed by vote of its members at the 
annual meeting in 1871. The publication has been delayed beyond the 
time originally contemplated, by circumstances not under the author's 
control. In preparing this volume it has been the aim to present a com- 
prehensive view of the state of education in Rhode Island in the early 
years of its history, and to trace the progressive steps by which the cause 
has advanced to its present cheering condition. The founding of the 
Institute, under the auspices of far-seeing and guiding minds, was an 
event the importance of which cannot be over-estimated. It was the 
embodying of hitherto scattered elements, and imparting to them a power 
which separately they did not possess. In educating the Public Mind so 
that it should perceive and feel the duty which society owes to the rising 
generation; in securing to teaching as a profession, a higher appreciation ; 
in developing just ideas of the relation between intellectual culture and 
prosperous industry; in awakening a worthy ambition to make the Public 
Schools the most efficient auxiliaries to the higher institutions of learning ; 
and in demanding that all which science reveals, experience approves. 
and moral principle enforces, shall be made subsidiary to popular edu- 
cation; the Institute has borne a part upon which its members may 



4 PREFACE. 

look with entire satisfaction. And if there be truth in the often-quoted 
proverb, " coming events cast their shadows before," there is foundation 
for the belief that the future glory of its work will far surpass the bright- 
ness of its past. 

To the Teachers and Friends of Education in Rhode Island this " Brief 
History" is respectfully inscribed, with the hope that it may prove an 
acceptable contribution to a Cause which is now engaging so earnestly 
their hearts and hands. 



E. m. s. 



November, 1874. 




HISTORY. 




, preliminary to the history of the Rhode Island Insti- 
tute of Instruction, it will be proper to glance at the 
condition of Education in the early clays of the Colony 
of Rhode Island, and the rise and progress of her Public 
School System. 

If the Cause of Public Education in Rhode Island, now so 
universally popular, did not at an early clay engage the atten- 
tion of the Body Politic here, as in other Colonies, the 
neglect, seeming or real, should be attributed rather to the 
peculiar circumstances under which this Colony was settled 
than to a want of appreciation of good learning. It Avill be 
borne in mind when making a contrast between the early 
educational condition of Rhode Island and that of her 
neighbor Colonies, that she labored under difficulties which 
constituted no part of their experience; and that while the 
settlements at Plymouth, Boston, Salem and New Haven, 
were begun with organized bodies of men, bringing with 
them means for at once establishing the Church and the School 
House, our Colony Life was begun by a handful of Refugees 
from their first chosen home in the Bay Colony, too few in 
numbers to do more at the outstart than to subdue enough of 
the wilderness to make for themselves an unenviable home ; 
too poor to command at the moment and put in operation the 
agencies of a high civilization ; and too much occupied in 
protecting themselves against aboriginal and other dangers to 
establish, as a first step, the Public School and the University. 



6 HISTORY OF THE 

Had they been differently situated, a different aspect would 
doubtless have been put upon the face of things in these 
Plantations. The Leader of the Conscience Band who fled 
first to Seekonk, and then, at the suggestion of the friendly 
Winslow, and possibly of the no less friendly Winthrop, re- 
moved to a spot he named Providence, — was a profound 
scholar, and could not but have had a just comprehension of 
the importance of a practical education to a rising commu- 
nity. But the children of the Plantation Colony, for several 
years after its founders arrived here, must have been so few 
as hardly to have suggested the immediate necessity of a 
school, *while the pressing demands upon the time and services 
of Williams in adjusting local vexations and in serving the 
welfare of a neighboring Colony, put it out of his power to 
give thought to any plan for establishing a system of popular 
education. Yet it is not to be assumed that no interest was 
felt here or elsewhere in the Colony on this subject, or that 
no measures were adopted for the encouragement of educa- 
tion. In 1640, one year after the settlement of Newport was 
begun, that town invited Mr. Robert Lenthal "to keep a 
public school for the learning of youth, and for his encourage- 
ment there was granted to him and his heirs one hundred 
acres of land, and four more for a house lot." The town 
also voted, " that one hundred acres should be laid forth and 
appropriated for a school, for the encouragement of the poorer 
sort, to train up their youth in learning. "f 

These one hundred acres, it is supposed by some, were 
originally located in what is now the town of Middletovvn, 
and in IGtil were exchanged for a tract subsequently known as 
Newtown, or school land. In 1(563, this trust was ordered to 

■it should be borne in mind that in 1680 the population of Rhode [sland» exclu- 
sive of Indians, did not exceed 7,000, and in L701, sixty-fh e years alter the settle- 
menl of Providence, it had increased to only L0 000. Of this population, the largesl 
portion must have been comprised in the settlements at Providence, Newport 
and Warwick, [n other parts of the Colony the necessity tor schools could not 
have boon pressing. 

t Arnold, i. II."., L46. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 7 

be divided into lots, " and to be sold or loaned on condition 
that the purchasers should pay to the town treasurer an 
annual rent to constitute a fund for the schooling and educat- 
ing of poor children, according to the direction of the town 
council for the time being."* From 1775 to 1792 there were 
seventy-eight lots in Newtown, denominated " school lands," 
for which the town received in rents, $181.42 per annum. 

In 1695, Judge Samuel Sewall, of Boston, conveyed land 
in the Pettaquamscut Purchase to Trustees, the income of 
which was to be appropriated to the support of the ministry, 
and to the instruction of "the children and youths of the 
above mentioned town of Pettaquamscut, f as well English 
there settled, or to be settled, as Indians the aboriginal natives 
and proprietors of the place, to read and write the English 
language and the rules of grammar." The school was for a 
long time at Tower Hill, and among the instructors were 
Constant Southworth, Increase Hewett,and Robert F. Noyes4 

In the following year (1696) Judge Sewall conveyed to 
Harvard College land in the same Purchase " for and towards 
the support and education at said College, of such youths 
whose parents may not be of sufficient ability to maintain 
them there, especially such as shall be sent from Pettaquam- 
scut aforesaid, English or Indians. "§ In 1765, Thomas Nini- 
gret, commonly known as King Tom, Sachem of the Narra- 
gansetts, petitioned the Society for Propagating the Gospel 
to establish a Free School for the children of the tribe. 
Ninigret was born in 1736, and became Sachem in 1746. 

In 1697, Newport voted other school lands for the benefit 
of a school master. In 1706, a school house was built at the 
public charge. To defray the expense the town sold six acres 
of land, and laid a tax of £150. In .1 713, the town voted to 
establish another school, and Benjamin Nicholson was chosen 
schoolmaster. || In 1726, one hundred and six acres of land 

* Barnard's Report, 1848, p. 145, 

f Now Exeter. 

J Potter's Early History of Xurragansett, pp. -29), 29E §Ibid. 

|| In 171G, Portsmouth " having considered how excellent an ornament learning 



8 HISTORY OF THE 

were voted for a school house in the eastern part of the town. 
From this date until the American Revolution, a commend- 
able interest in the cause of education "was manifested in 
Newport— an interest that for a time was paralyzed by the 
influences of the war. In 1795 the Long Wharf Association 
of Newport, adopted measures to establish a public school, 
and provided for its support. The same year Mr. Simeon 
Potter, of Swansea, Mass., gave to the Association, in trust, 
an estate in that town, "to support a Free School forever." 

In 1827, a public school system in a modified form, was 
carried into effect, and in 1828, Governor Fenner contributed 
$100 to the school fund of Newport, " instead of giving the 
time honored 'treat' to the people on election day," — the 
usual expense of the treat being that amount. From this 
period, the interest in popular education has advanced in that 
city, and at the present time the public schools there are 
among the best in the State. 

Providence, in 1663, laid out and reserved "one hundred 
acres of upland land and six acres of meadow (or lowland to 
the quantity of eight acres, in lieu of meadow,") "for the 
maintenance of a school." Previous to this, home instruction 
or a Dame's school, probably, answered the needs of the child- 
ren of the town. 

The first recorded acts of the citizens of Bristol in relation 
to schools bears date September, 1682, when it was voted, 
"that each person that hath children in town ready to go to 
school, shall pay three pence the week for each child's school- 
ing to the schoolmaster, and the town by rate according to 
each ratable estate shall make the wages to amount to £24 
the year. The selectmen to look out a grammar schoolmas- 
ter and use their endeavor to obtain £5 of the cape money 
granted for such an end." "September, 1648, voted £24 the 



is to mankind," adopted measures to build a school house on the south side of the 
town. Six years later two other school houses were built.— Arnold's R. I., ii„ 59. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 9 

year for Mr. Cobbett, he officiating in the place of a school- 
muster in this town."* 

From an early date Bristol has been fortunate in its choice 
of committees, whose labors have been effective in giving a 
high character to the schools of that town. 

Although " no public education at the expense of the 
town " was provided for in AVarren, previous to 1828, the 
public records of Swansea, Mass., of which Warren was a 
part until 1718, show that becoming care was taken to secure 
for its children and youth the benefit of educational instruc- 
tion. The same is true of Barrington, also a part of Swan- 
sea, and which was erected into a distinct township in 1717. 
As early as 1G73, " three years after old Plymouth had voted a 
freeschool within her borders, "f a school was set up "for the 
teaching of grammar, rhetoric, and arithmetic, and the 
tongues of Latin, Greek and Hebrew, also to read English 
and to write." Of this school Rev. John Myles was ap- 
pointed master, at " at a salary of £40 per annum in current 
country pay." "Whether or not this sum was intended as a 
full equivalent for his services as clergyman and school teacher, 
there seems, at a later day, to have been differences of opin- 
ion. In 1699, Mr. Jonathan Bosworth was appointed "to 
teach in the several places in the town by course," at a com- 
pensation of £18 per year, "one-quarter in money and the 
other three-quarters in provisions, at money price." In 
1702, Mr. John Devotion was chosen to fulfil similar peripa- 
tetic duties at a salary of "£12 current money of New Eng- 
land, to be paid quarterly, and the town to ' pay for his diet,' " 
besides an allowance of 20s. " towards the keeping of his 
horse, "i 

From 1718 until 1828, when regular appropriations of 
money for public education by the town first begun to be 

* These facts have been cited to show that from a very early date the education 
of the young' was not undervalued, nor wholly unprovided lor. 
tBtckneU's History Barrington, p. 91. 
J Fessenden's History Warren, pp. s;J. 84. 

2 



10 HISTORY OF THE 

made, the people of Warren have not been unmindful of the 
intellectual needs of the young, and the steady advance of 
public sentiment has secured to that town school eonvenien- 
cies and advantages that will compare favorably with those of 
other communities. 

The public school idea, now developed into grand propor- 
tions which renders it the glory of the State, was slow of 
growth. Like some of the beautiful productions of nature, 
its bloom and fruitage could not be prematurely forced. It 
found, however, through a long seiies of years, faithful culti- 
vators, who, amidst the temporary expedients of private 
schools and of proprietors' schools, persevered in watching 
over and protecting the precious plant, resting in hope of its 
ultimate perfection. Among the most conspicuous of these, 
dating from 1(384, when William Turpin was the first school- 
master in Providence of whom any memorial remains,* until 
1799, were John Dexter, William Hopkins, Joseph Whipple, 

* It would be interesting to learn something more than is now known of the ex- 
perience of Mr. Turpin as a teacher. His native place and the year of his arrival 
in Providence, is unknown. The earliest record of him found bears date June 
11th, 1684, on which day he covenanted with William Hawkins and his wile Lydia, 
"to furnish Peregrine Gardner with board and schooling one year for six pounds; 
forty shillings of which in beef and pork; pork at two-pence, and beef at three- 
pence half-penny, per lb. ; twenty shillings in corn, at two shillings per bushel; 
and the balance in silver money."— (Staples's Annals.) That Mr. Turpin intended 
to make teaching a permanent occupation in Providence, is evident from the fact 
thai in January, 1GS5, he petitioned the town to invest him ami his heirs with the 
land set apart " for the use and benefit of a school master," •' so long as he or any 
of them should maintain thai worthy art of teaching."- (Town Records.) That 
his petition was granted the records do not show. Mr. Turpin must have been 
held in universal respect, and have possessed the confidence of hi- fellow-towns- 
men as a man of discreet judgment and unimpeachable integrity, as we find that 
he twice represented Providence in the General Assembly, was one year Town 
Clerk, and lor upwards of fourteen years was Town Treasurer, lie died in the 
early part Of 1744. His house stood on the west side of North Main street, nearly 

opposite the fourth Baptist meeting house. At one timethe General Assembly 

held their sessions there. According to a statement made by the late Mr. Samuel 
Thurber, " this was a very sightly place, and a place of considerable business, 
lie had a large yard with an (dm tree in it, a tine garden, handsomely fenced in, 
through which there ran a small brook, which came from a swam]) laying a little 
to the eastward of where the meeting house now is." 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 11 

Nicholas Cooke, Joseph Olney, Esek Hopkins, Elisha Brown, 
John Mawuey, Nicholas Brown, Elijah Tillinghast, Daniel 
Abbot, Barzillai Richmond, John Brown, John Jetfckes, Na- 
thaniel Greene, Charles Keene, Darius Sessions, Samuel 
Nightingale, Jahez Bowen, Moses Brown, Enos Hitchcock, 
James Manning, Theodore Foster, William Jones, Richard 
Jackson, John Howland, Samuel Thurber, Grhidall Reynolds, 
Nathan Fisher, Peter Grinnell, Jonathan Maxcy, Joseph 
Jenckes, James Burrill, Jr., David L. Barnes, George R.Bur- 
rill, Samuel W. Bridgham, Stephen Ganb, John Carlisle, 
Thomas P. Ives, Joel Metcalf, Richard Anthony, and Wil- 
liam Richmond. 

In 1767, an important advance step was taken in Provi- 
dence in the direction of " providing schools for-all the child- 
ren of the inhabitants." Hon. Jabez Bowen wrote a report 
which was laid before a town meeting, January 1, 1768, em- 
bracing a system of public instruction. In this it was pro- 
vided : 

" That every inhabitant of this town, whether they be free of the town 
or not, shall have and enjoy an equal right and privilege, of sending their 
own children and the children of others that may be under their care, for 
instruction and bringing up to any or all of said schools." 

But the time for a full appreciation of this recommenda- 
tion had not arrived, and it was rejected. In 1791, Presi- 
dent Manning, of Brown University, as chairman of a com- 
mittee to whom a petition of some citizens for the establish- 
ment of public schools had been referred, drew up a report 
recommending substantially what Gov. Bowen had proposed 
twenty-four years before. This report was presented at a 
town meeting, held August 1, and accepted, though it con- 
tained an obnoxious clause which prevented any further action 
being taken upon it.* 

*This clause recommended that as the Friends then had a school of their own 
in which their children were instructed ami would continue to he instructed, they 
should he permitted to draw fro m the town treasury money to support their 
school in proportion to the number of children attending it. 



12 HISTORY OF THE 

Thus far the action of Providence had been local in its 
character, viz. : to establish free schools within its own limits. 
In 1798, ^a new era dawned upon the State. A movement 
was commenced in Providence to expand the public school 
idea, and accomplish for every town in Rhode Island what 
had thus far been attempted in her principal capital. In 
other words to establish, by legislative enactment, a State 
Public School System. A leading man in this enterprise was 
John Ilowland, who found himself ably sustained by earnest 
men of various professions and occupations. Mr. Ilowland 
was distinguished for sound judgment, far-reaching discern- 
ment, skill in execution, and unconquerable persistence. His 
position in the community gave him a strong influence with 
the wealthy and with the laboring classes, and as the hostil- 
ity to free schools was found largely among the latter, he was 
able to do much to create a better sentiment among them. 
In his place of business, in the street, and by the fire-side, 
free public schools was made by him a topic of conversation. 
He agitated the subject in town meeting, and in the Mechan- 
ics' Association, then the most influential organization in 
Providence. Under the direction of that Association, and in 
its name, he wrote a memorial which was presented to the 
General Assembly at its February session in East* Green- 
wich, in 171)9, soliciting that honorable body " to make legal 
provision for the establishment of free schools, sufficient to 
educate all the children in the several towns throughout the 
State."* The memorial was referred to a Committee, which 
reported by bill at the June session the same year. The bill 
was printed, and referred to the freemen for instruction. The 
instructions given by the town of Providence to its represen- 
tatives to vote for the bill, were written by Mr. Howland. 
They set forth that "on the question of free schools all party 
distinctions are broken down. Plere there can be no clashing 



*Tho Representatives from Providence al this session of the General Assembly 
were John smith, Tliomas r. Ives and David L. Barnes, all of whom were stead- 
fast friends of public free schools. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 13 

of interests. On this subject one section of the State cannot 
be opposed to another. Before this benevolent idea, every 
partial, narrow motive of local policy must disappear."* At 
the October session of the General Assembly the bill was 
passed by the House of Representatives, but in the Senate it 
was postponed until the session in February, 1800, when that 
body concurred with the House, and a public free school law 
became an established fact. This law continued in force 
three years, when it was repealed. But in that three years 
the tree of knowledge, thus legally planted, had struck deep 
and spread wide its roots, and exhibited a vitality that bid 
defiance to the destructive influence of mal-legislation."t 

It seems surprising, at this late day, that a system for the 
free education of all classes, should have been so soon abro- 
gated. Yet, it is no more surprising than that, in 1S18, a 

*It is worthy of record here that the repeal of the school law had no injurious 
effect upon the schools in Providence, hut rather stimulated their friends to more 
earnest endeavors in their behalf. The system was continued unchanged, except 
by such improvements as time and experience suggested. From year to year 
they increased in usefulness and in favor with the people. The firm position 
taken by the friends of education in that town, and the success to which the 
school system there voluntarily maintained, attained, attracted attention in every 
part of the State, and did much to rally public sentiment by which the passage ol 
the school law of 1828 was secured. In the subsequent efforts from that date to 
1850 made to carry forward the work of education so as to meet the demands of 
an increasing intelligence, the disinterested services of Francis Wayland, Samuel 
W. Bridgham, Alexis Caswell, Alexander Duncan, John L. Hughes, William T. 
Grinnell, William S. Patten, Ksek Aldrich, S. Augustus Arnold, J. P. K. Ilenshaw, 
Seth Padelford, George Baker, William Gammed. Moses B. Ives, Thomas M. Bur- 
gess, Edward R. Young, and the members of the School Committee generally, 
were invaluable. Since 1850, the same spirit has prevailed, and it is safe to say 
that the schools of Providence, in their several grades, are not elsewhere sur- 
passed. The High School takes rank with the best in the country. 

fThe rise and progress of the public schools in Providence forms one of the most 
interesting chapters in the history of Education in Rhode Island. Those who wish 
to learn more of its details than are here given may consult the Life of John How. 
land, and Barnard's "Report and Documents relating to the Public Schools of 
Rhode Island." In all his efforts in behalf of popular education Mr. Howland was 
e neouraged by the support of Rev. Drs. Hitchcock, Maxcy, and Gano, Governor 
William Jones, Richard Jackson, Jabez Bowen, James Burrill, Jr.. Amos M.At- 
well, and other influential citizens of the town. 



14 HISTORY OF THE 

proposition to establish primary schools in Boston, should 
have been opposed, or than the indifference to educational 
improvement that prevailed with the people of Massachusetts 
as late as 1840. In a lecture delivered at Topsfield, in that 
State, before the Essex County Teachers' Association, by the 
late Horace Mann, then Secretary of the Board of Education, 
he said: "In our own times, in such low estimation is this 
highest of all causes held, that in these days of conventions 
for all other objects of public interest, — when men go hun- 
dreds of miles to attend railroad conventions, and cotton con- 
ventions, and tobacco conventions, and when the delegates of 
political conventions are sometimes counted, asXerxes counted 
his army, by acres and square miles, — yet such has often been 
the dispersive effect upon the public of announcing a common 
school convention, and a lecture on education, that I have que- 
ried in my own mind whether, in regard to two or three coun- 
ties, at least, in our own State, it would not be advisable to alter 
the law for quelling riots and mobs ; and, instead of summoning 
sheriffs and armed magistrates and the posse comilatus for 
their dispersion, to put them to flight by making proclamation 
of a discourse on common schools." But this sharp sarcasm 
of Mr. Mann had a wider application than he gave it. At 
the time it was uttered a general apathy prevailed among the 
people of the New England States, as it did among those of 
all the other States in the Union, in regard to the condition 
of public free school education, — an apathy that required the 
utmost efforts of earnest workers to remove. 

In 1844, more than seven thousand school houses in the 
State of New York were destitute of suitable play grounds, 
while nearly six thousand were unprovided with convenient 
seats and desks, and in almost every other respect were unfit 
for the uses for which they were erected.* 

* The State Commissioner says, " nearly eight thousand were destitute of the 
proper facilities for ventilation, and upwards oi si\ thousand without a privy of 
any sort, "while of the remainder hut about one thousand [out of nine thousand 
three hundred and sixty-eight] were, provided with privies containing 'different 
apartments for male and female pupils! " 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 15 

In 1847, a depreciation in the effectiveness of the schools in 
many parts of Pennsylvania was reported. In New Jersey it 
was declared that, to establish a Normal School, " would be 
an infringement of the rightful liberty of the citizen," while 
of Indiana it was said by one of her own sons, "We have 
borrowed millions for the physical improvement of our State, 
but we have not raised a dollar by advalorem taxation to cul- 
tivate the minds of our children ! " * 

These citations are not made for the purpose of covering 
the deficiencies of Rhode Island by pointing out the defects 
of sister States, but merely to show that an almost criminal 
indifference to the education of the masses was universal, and 
that the need of reformation in our own State was but a 
sample of needs felt and acknowledged throughout the 
country. 

In 1843, public sentiment had so far advanced in the right 
direction, that Governor Fenner was authorized by the Gen- 
eral Assembly to appoint a State Agent, whose duty it 
should be to use all legitimate means for promoting the 
interests of education in every town in Rhode Island, and 
thus aid in awakening a new enthusiasm, and in raising to a 
higher level the standard of instruction. In the same year, 
Hon. Henry Barnard, of Connecticut, was appointed to fill 
this office, upon the duties of which he entered with charac- 
teristic zeal. His time was constantly employed in visiting 
the different towns in the State, delivering lectures, holding 
educational meetings, editing an educational journal, estab- 
lishing free libraries, and in other ways doing an almost 
incredible amount of work. 

During a lapse of nearly twentj'-eight years, the great mis- 
take of the General Assembly of 1803, in repealing the 
school law, was painfully apparent all over the State. 
Every town had thereby been left to do what seemed right in 
its own eyes — to make provision for schools or not — and in 
all towns in which the popular mind had not been enlightened 

* Address to the Legislature of Indiana, by one of the people, lS-iT. 



16 HISTORY OF THE 

by the inculcation of generous views, and stimulated to action 
by a strong sense of public duty, the means of education 
were lamentably deficient.' Under this state of things, 
"Proprietors Schools" took form, with a view of securing 
for the young the education they were otherwise in danger of 
losing. The proprietors school houses were built and owned 
by a company of individuals who employed a teacher at their 
own expense to educate their children. Others, not proprie- 
tors, but having children, were permitted to send them to the 
same schools, by paying a fixed sum for tuition. To both 
classes, therefore, these were "pay schools." But this 
arrangement, though conferring a benetit upon many who 
otherwise would have become outcasts from the common- 
wealth of letters, failed to answer the growing wants of the 
State. In 1827, the friends of a wiser policy made a grand 
effort for a change. That year, at the October session of the 
General Assembly, a memorial was presented, asking for the 
establishing of "a general system of education, extended at 
the public expense, to all the citizens of the State." On the 
basis of that memorial, plans for organizing a system of free 
schools was brought before the General Assembly, by John 
B. Waterman, of Warwick, Joseph L. Tillinghast, of Provi- 
dence, and others, which were embodied in " An Act to es- 
tablish Public Schools," and ably advocated at the January 
session, 1828, by Messrs. Waterman, Tillinghast, Dixon, of 
Westerly, and Potter, of South Kingstown. After a pro- 
tracted discussion, the bill passed the house by a vote of 
fifty-seven in the affirmative and two in the negative. It 
passed the Senate, with a few amendments, without a dissent- 
ing voice. The amendments were concurred in by the House, 
and the foundation was thus a second time laid for a Public 
School System in Rhode Island. 

The law underwent various changes and modifications until 
1844, when the "Agent of Public Schools" was directed to 
prepare the draft of a school law, in which the various public 
and special acts on the subject should be consolidated, and 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 17 

such additional provisions engrafted as should be thought 
necessary or desirable. This was done by Mr. Barnard with 
great completeness. 

To this Act, the late Hon. Wilkins Updike, then a member 
of the House of Representatives, gave an earnest and pow- 
erful support. In a highly effective speech, setting forth 
"the wide-spread disaffection with the schools as they are," 
and "the inefficient manner in which the system i» adminis- 
tered," the dilapidated condition of school houses, the need 
of better qualified teachers, and the duty of the State and of 
the towns to do more than had been done for the support of 
schools, he added : " We must elect capable men to the office 
of school committees, and men of education and wealth 
must consent to act as committees. These committees must 
see that none but moral and qualified teachers are employed, 
and that our young men and young women may qualify them- 
selves to be teachers, let us contribute of our means as indi- 
viduals to establish and maintain model schools and Normal 
schools. Let us have our Rhode Island Institute of In- 
struction, which shall meet in different parts of the State, 
where teachers and the friends of education may come 
together and discuss the great subject which concerns the 
improvement of the public schools. Let us go round into dis- 
tricts and point out to parents and to our fellow-citizens gen- 
erally, existing defects, and all desirable and practical reme- 
dies, in the management and government of these schools." 

" But let us start right. Let us have an organization to begin 
with, so that our efforts will not be thrown away, and our 
money squandered as now. Let us have a law by which 
good schools can be established if we can convince the peo- 
ple that it is their interest to establish them. Let us have a 
law by which none but qualified teachers shall be employed. 
Let us have a law by which the enormous evil 
and expense arising out of a constant change of school books 
shall be remedied : and all new school houses erected after 

judicious plans and directions Let us have an 

3 



18 HISTORY OF THE 

officer whose intelligence, experience, and constant oversight 
shall give efficiency and uniformity to the administration of 
the system — who shall go round among the schools, hold 
meetings of teachers, parents and the friends of education, 
break up the apathy which prevails in some parts of the State, 
enlighten the ignorant, and direct the efforts of all to one 
great and glorious end, the training of all the children, the 
rich and the poor, in all sound and worthy practice. Let us 
have a State pride on this subject. Let us aim to be, what I 
am sure we can become, from our compact population, and 
the comparative wealth of all our people, the educated and 

educating State of this Union Let the census 

of the United States, and above all, let peace in our own 
borders, the security of property, the dignity and value of 
labor, the cheerfulness and happiness of every fireside and 
workshop in the State, proclaim, that there is not a child of 
suitable age, who is not at school, or an inhabitant of the 
State who cannot read or write, or who has not access to a 
well-selected library of good books." 

State Commissioner. 

The Act thus advocated, was passed at the June session 
of the General Assembly, 1844, to take effect in July, 1845. 
By this Act, the office of Commissioner of Public Schools 
was established, and with extended powers took the place of 
the State agency. 

Mr. Barnard had not been long engaged in a survey of the 
State by which he was made familiar with the local hindrances 
to the progress of his work, before he became sensible of the 
need of an organization, embracing alike practical educators 
and the friends of education, through which the people could 
be more frequently reached than it would be possible for him 
alone to do, and which at the same time by its moral support 
would impart increased efficiency to his own endeavors. Out 
of this need came the Rhode Island Institute of Instruc- 
tion, whose history, in these pages, is briefly recorded. 



EHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 19 



Formation of the Institute. 

In the latter part of the year 1844, at the suggestion of 
Mr. Barnard, Mr. Amos Perry, then Principal of the Sum- 
mer Street Grammar School, in Providence, made arrange- 
ments for a meeting of teachers and the friends of education 
to be held in the City Council chamber, to consider the sub- 
ject of organizing an association, whose object should be to 
awaken among the people a broader and deeper interest in 
public schools, and at the same time lend its support to Mr. 
Barnard in his work as State Commissioner. The meeting 
was held according to previous notice, at which Nathan 
Bishop, Esq., Superintendent of Public Schools in Provi- 
dence, presided. Twenty-five or thirty teachers, most of 
them engaged in the public schools, and a few other persons 
were present. Mr. Barnard being unable to attend in conse- 
quence of severe indisposition, Mr. Perry explained the 
object of the meeting, stating, in substance, Mr. Barnard's 
views and wishes. After a free interchange of opinions, during 
which several irentlemen manifested a want of faith in asso- 
ciate action, a committee was appointed to consider the ex- 
pediency of forming a State Educational Association, and to 
take such measures for that object as they should deem expe- 
dient. This committee consisted of John Kingsbury, Nathan 
Bishop, Amos Perry, Henry Day, and John J. Stimson. 

The representative character of the committee will be 
noted. All of them were identified with the cause of educa- 
tion. One member was at the head of a private school ; one 
Superintendent of the Public Schools; one at the head of a 
Grammar school ; one the senior teacher in the High school, 
and one an influential member of the School Committee. The 
several meetings of this committee were held in the office of 
the Superintendent of Public Schools. After deliberately 
considering the question, shall we have an Association? it 



20 HISTORY OF THE 

was agreed that the enterprise should go forward, and the 
foundation of the Institute was laid. " Thenceforward," says 
one actively engaged in the preliminary movement, " there 
was no discussion about the importance of combined or asso- 
ciate action. It became a necessity. Obstacles and obstruc- 
tions of whatever nature gradually disappeared. The officers 
were selected, after a careful canvass, with a view to their 
qualifications and usefulness. Friends whom we had never 
known came forward and lent a helping hand. After a year 
or two instead of witnessing the decline and death that had 
been foretold, we had from the same lips a more hopeful pre- 
diction. This time the Institute was to live and prosper a 
hundred years. This sentiment uttered in a strain of elo- 
quence in the First Baptist meeting-house was received with 
applause by attentive listeners, and influences were thrown 
in favor of such broad and manly action as tends to such a 
result. 

" The Association adopted the name of the eldest educa- 
tional association of the country, with a view of indicating, 
on a restricted scale, its general policy and mode of action. 
The two associations were alike in their general outlines, 
though different in their sphere of action. One belonged to 
New England, or the nation, and the other to the little State 
of Rhode Island. While teachers naturally took a leading 
part in the deliberations of the Institute, all friends of educa- 
tion without regard to profession or calling, w r ere invited to 
co-operate for the common cause and to share the honors and 
responsibilities of membership. Exclusiveness and elanish- 
ness were foreign to its spirit and object. A free and cordial 
intercourse between different classes and professions was in- 
vited and encouraged, with a view to breaking down partition 
walls and introducing life and lisrht to the dark chambers of 
the mind. It was remarked by Mr. Barnard when the plan 
of organization was under consideration, that education is 
many-sided and is best promoted by a combination of influ- 
ences from various sources." * 

* Letter from Hon. Amos Perry to the author. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 21 

To the foregoing account :i few particulars may be added. 
The adjourned meeting referred to was held in the State 
House in Providence, January 21, 1845, when the committee 
to whom the whole subject had been committed, made a re- 
port which is here present d, as expressing the feelings and 
convictions of those, earliest in the movement : 

" Whatever doubt may exist in regard to the influences of popular edu- 
cation, in other countries, there can be none in regard to the United 
States. Here, it may be assumed as an axiom, that the people, the whole 
people should be educated. Our institutions, civil, political, and religious, 
all imperatively demand it. How shall this be done? is the only question 
that admits of discussion. To this question only one rational answer can 
be given — chiefly by public or common schools. 

" Whatever inlluence may be exerted by the press, by the college, and 
high schools, in advancing education, — and we have no doubt but that 
influence is great and indispensable; it is not for a moment to be sup- 
posed that these means are sufficient to educate a whole people. History 
does not present a solitary example of a country or province, where edu- 
cation has been universal, without some instrumentality analogous to 
common schools. 

" Literature and science may flourish where only the wealthy few are 
highly educated. It is possible that the, few, by monopolizing the emolu- 
ments and privileges which superior knowledge confers, may, while the 
many are toiling in agriculture or mechanic arts, rise to higher attain- 
ments, and cause science and literature to take deeper root and to bring 
forth mature fruits. Though such fruits might bi ing blessings with them, 
the genius of our institutions requires rather the diffusion than the accu- 
mulation of knowledge. It was the boast of Henry IV , of France, that 
he would ' take care that every peasant should be in such a condition as 
to havh a fowl in his pot.' It should be the care of our country that every 
child should be educated. 

"Onr forefathers laid us under deep obligation, therefore, when they 
consecrated the common school to the education of the people. Ought 
we not deeply to regret that within our own State, that mission has not 
been fully accomplished. There are those among us who cannot read or 
write. Never should the friends of education rest till this stain is wiped 
from the escutcheon of the State Though we hail with delight the deep 
interest now beginning to be awakened in different parts of the State, 
still it is an important question, what further can be done to give our 
public school system an impulse so vigorous, as to -end its full st blessings 
to the most secluded district. 

Light must be diffused in regard to the subject Parents must be roused 
from apathy by having the evils of ignorance and the blessings of knowl- 
edge placed I before them ; the connection between crime and ignorance 



22 HISTORY OF THE 

must be shown ; it must be demonstrated that knowledge not only leads to 
higher elevation of character here, and better hopes of a future life, but 
it must be proved that an intelligent, educated man will earn more 
money than an ignorant one; the incompetency of teachers must be ex- 
posed, and public sentiment must be made to demand better; in short, 
we should all be brought to the full conviction that good public schools 
are a powerful safeguard of our country. In view of these and similar 
considerations, we deem it expedient to form, at the present time, a State- 
Association for the promotion of public school education." 

This report, after being discussed, was referred to a com- 
mittee of which Mr. Barnard was chairman, with instructions 
to present a constitution at an adjourned meeting. This 
meeting at which Hon. Wilkins Updike, of South Kingstown, 
presided, was held in Westminster Hall on the evening of 
January 25, 1845, when the constitution, prepared by Mr. 
Barnard, was reported and adopted. At an adjourned meet- 
ing held in the Vestry of the First Baptist Church, on the 
28th of January, the organization of the Institute was com- 
pleted by the choice of the following officers : . 

President, - John Kingsbury, Providence. 

Vice Presidents, - - - Wilkins Updike, South Kingstown. 

Ariel Ballou, Woonsoeket. 

Corresponding Secretary, - - Nathan Bishop, Providence. 

Recording Secretary, - - Joshua D. Giddings, Providence. 

Treasurer, - Thos. C. Hartshorn, Providence. 

Directors, ... William Gammell, Providence, 

Amos Peiirv, Providence, 
Caleb Faknum, Providence, 
Joseph T. Sisson, North Pro\ idence, 
J. T. IIakknkss, Smithlield. 
J. B. Tali.man, Cumberland, 
L. W. Ballou, Cumberland, 

J. S. TOURTELLOTT, Gloeestcr. 

Samuel Greene, Smithlield. 

During the first year of the Institute, spirited meetings 
under its auspices were held in Providence, Newport, Bristol, 
Warren, Woonsoeket, East Greenwich, Valley Falls, Che- 
patehet, Olneyville, Seituate, Fruit Hill, Pawtuxet, Foster, 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 23 

and Kingston. At these meetings the following topics 
were discussed : 

" How parents can cooperate with teachers. 1 ' 

"The value of a sound public opinion on the subject of education." 

" That ihe whole community, and not a part, should be educated." 

"Methods of disciplining and managing schools." 

" The necessity of a graduation of schools." 

" Methods of securing good teachers." 

"Public schools the only available method of educating the entire com- 
munity." 

" Importance of educating the young morally as well :is intellectually." 

"Methods of teaching reading." 

"Methods of teaching spelling." 

" Music as a branch of education in schools." 

" That a State, in order to make the most of its resources, must know 
how to use them." 

" That a State will increase in wealth in proportion to the intelligence 
of its population." 

The programme of the Teachers' Institute held in 1847, 
under the general supervision of the State Commissioner, in- 
dieates the practical character of those meetings, and is a fair 
sample of the work engaged in during the earlier years of 
struggle for a higher educational life. It is as follows : 

" 1 . A review of the studies usually taught in the public schools of this 
State, with exemplifications of the best method of instruction in each 
branch, and with special attention to such difficulties as any member of 
the Institute may have encountered in teaching the same. 

"2. Familiar lectures and discussions among the members, on the or- 
ganization of schools, the classification of pupils, and the theory and prac- 
tice of teaching. 

" Public lectures and discussions in the evening, on topics calculated 
to interest parents and the community generally, in the subject of educa- 
tion, and the organization, administration, and improvement of schools." 

Every teacher was requested to communicate a list of such 
topics as he wished to have considered at the session of the 
Institute which he proposed to attend, — to be provided with 



24 HISTORY OF THE 

a Bible or Testament, a slate and pencil, with pen and ink or 
lead pencil, and a blank or common-place book in which to 
enter notes, and also with the reading book used by the first 
class in the town where he taught, or proposed to teach. By 
this method the meetings of the Institute became, in large 
degree, mutual improvement seasons. 

The topics presented and discussed brought out the best 
thoughts of practical teachers. Their mutual experiences in 
the school district and in the school-room, related in a free and 
unstudied conversation, became a valuable treasure to each ; 
and as they returned to their daily duties, they felt that they 
had not only been refreshed by the social enjoyments of these 
occasions, but had found new helps to future success in their 
vocation. 

At the first annual meeting, held in Providence, January 
15, 184 G, the President, in a brief review of the year, said : 

"Through this Association, and county societies of a similar nature, 
avast amount of voluntary labor, in this cause, has been performed; 
and, apparently, a very deep public interest h:is been created. By these 
means, united with legislative action, a train of measures has been put 
in motion which already indicate a great improvement in the public 
mind— a train, which, if not prematurely interrupted, will ultimately, 
and at no distant period, raise the public schools of this State to the 
highest rank among the means of popular education. It is not too much 
to say, that probably no State in the Union has made greater progress in 

the same space of time .1 venture to predict that if the 

friends of education, as they have hitherto done, shun all partizan and 
sectarian alliances, those who choose to throw themselves as impedi- 
ments in the way of this cause, will wage a war which will recoil upon 
their own heads. Let us, then, go forward with steady courage and cheer- 
ful hearts. Let us manifest activity, decision and energy; but let them 
all be guided by that wisdom which selects the best means for the attain- 
ment of given ends.'" 

The second annual meeting, held at. the State House in 
Providence, January 7th, 1S4 7, was numerously attended by 
the friends of education from all parts of the State. It was 
a goodly company of large hearted and disinterested workers. 
President Kingsbury was in the chair to congratulate the 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 25 

Association on the success that had thus far attended the 
educational enterprise in the State, and to urge " continued 
action and zeal by which the noble objects in view might be 
achieved." Dr. Wayland was there to advocate the establish- 
ing of district school libraries throughout the State, as was 
Commissioner Barnard to designate the amount of money 
necessary to procure them, and to suggest the manner of 
raising it. William S. Baker, the devoted agent of the In- 
stitute and helpful coadjutor of the State Commissioner, 
was there, to tell of the old school houses that had been reno- 
vated, the new school houses that had been erected, the spirit 
of inquiry that had been awakened, and the active movements 
every where visible in the State. Rev. Mr. Vail, of Westerly, 
Judge Whipple, of Coventry, Dr. Ballon, of Cumberland, 
and Mr. George Manchester, of Portsmouth, were there, to 
testify to the happy results of the educational movement in 
their respective towns. Hon. William Hunter, of Newport, 
was there, to relate school reminiscences of his early days, 
and to draw a favorable contrast between 1797 and 1847; 
and Superintendent Bishop was there, to show how much the 
enlightened efforts of Rhode Island were appreciated abroad. 

Mr. Amos Perry, in behalf of the Executive Committee, 
presented an able report, comprising a resume of the work of 
the year. It exhibited practical views of Teachers' Institutes 
and ol the importance of a Normal School. It took elevated 
ground touching teaching as a profession. It affirmed that 
"the best talents of the community should be enlisted in the 
profession of the teacher, and with them should be associated 
those accomplishments and attractions which give power and 
influence over mind and character." It closed with an earnest 
invitation to "the citizens of the State to continue to co-ope- 
rate in promoting the prosperity of that cause which under- 
lies all the great interests of the State, and is the foundation 
and pillar upon which rests the broad fabric of our republican 
institutions — the intelligence and virtue of the people." 

A memorial to the legislature was reported and adopted, 
4 



26 HISTORY OF THE 

asking an appropriation for the purchase of volumes of the 
" Journal of the Rhode Island institute of Instruction," to be 
placed in the several districts of the State. 

The third annual meeting of the Institute, held in the same 
place on the evening of January 24th, 1848, was a session of 
no less interest and profit, though more thinly attended on 
account of strong attractions elsewhere. A valuable and 
suggestive report was made in behalf of the Executive Com- 
mittee, by Mr. Caleb Farnum, and earnest addresses were 
made by Messrs. William Gammcll, Joseph T. Sisson, Henry 
Barnard, "Nathan Bishop and Wilkins Updike. A communi- 
cation from Rev. Mr. Vail, of Westerly, was also read, 
giving "a cheering account, of the cause of education in his 
vicinity." One thousand dollars had been recently raised in 
that town for the establishment of a Library. 

"Mr. Updike illustrated the progress of education in this State. He 
could speak from an extensive observation. He knew the 'District 
School as it was," in Rhode Island. He had known some of its teachers, 
men who were employed without the slightest regard to their qualifica- 
tions :is educators. He had known those employed in the sacred office 
of teacher for the very reason that they were unlit for anything else. 
They were too stupid, shiftless, and feeble in body and mind to earn their 
bread in the ordinary way, and hence were employed to teach school, 
lie had known a man, an instructor of youth, whose word upon oath was 
not to be respected in one of our civil courts. Such teachers, he rejoiced 
to say, could not now be found in our schools. A different policy pre- 
vails. Teaching is now regarded as a profession, second to none in im- 
portance. Those who enter it have to undergo a rigid examination. 
They must have a good knowledge 1 of the branches in which they are to 
instruct. They must possess a good moral character. They must adopt 
improved methods of instruction and discipline. They must devote their 
time and their efforts to their schools. The people of Rhode Island no 
longer seek the cheapest, but the best men, to train and instruct their 
children." 

An adjourned meeting of the Institute was held in West- 
minster Hall, Providence, the week following, (January 25th,) 
which was addressed at length by Mr. Barnard, who gave a 
detailed statement of the efforts that had been put forth during 
the previous four years for the improvement of the public 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 27 

schools. New schools h;ul been established, new school 
houses erected,* and the average amount of school attend- 
ance greatly increased. 

In concluding his remarks, "Mr. Barnard said : 

" Rut let no Rhode Islander forget the immense fund of talent winch 
has slumbered in unconsciousness, or been only half developed, in the 
country towns of this State by reason of the defective provision for general 
education. Let the past four years be the first years of a new- era — an 
era in which education, universal education, the complete and thorough 
education of every child born or living in the State, shall be realized. 
Let the problem be solved — how much waste by vice and crime can bo 
prevented, how much the productive power of the State can be augmented, 
how far happy homes can be multiplied, by the right cultivation of the 
moral nature, and the proportionate development of the intellectual fac- 
ulties of every child;— how much more, and how much better, the hand 
can work when directed by an intelligent mind; how inventions for 
abridging labor can be multiplied by cultivated and active thought; in 
fine, how a State of one hunched and fifty thousand people can be made 
equal to a State of ten times that number; Cjin be made truly an empire 
State, ruling by the supremacy of mind and moral sentiments. All this 
can be accomplished by filling the State with educated mothers, well 
qualified teachers, am] good books, and bringing these mighty agencies to 
bear directly and under the most favorable circumstances upon every 
child and every adult Educate well, if you can educate only 

* In his Report for 1848, Mr. Barnard said: "To Mr. Thomas A. Tefft, of Provi- 
dence, much credit is due for the taste lie lias displayed in the designs furnished 
by him, and for theelevations which he drew for plans furnished or suggested by 
the Commissioner. He should not, however, be held responsible for the altera- 
tions made in his plans by the committees and carpenters having charge of the 
erections of the buildings after plans furnished by him." 

School houses, after Mr. Tefffc's designs, were erected in Westerly, Allendale, 
Barrington, Warren, Centreville and Providence. The latter is the house built 
on Benefit street for the Young Ladies' School, for many years kept by Hon. John 
Kingsbury,' and now under the charge of Rev. •). C. Stockbridge, D. I). Mr. Tefft 
was a native of Richmond, and commenced his career as a school teacher at the 
early age of 17 years. He came to Providence and studied architecture with Tall- 
man & Bucklin. He entered Brown University and graduated with the Degr >i 

B. P. He subsequently visited Europe, and acquainted himself with the various 
styles of architecture in England, Scotland, France, Lombardy, Italy ami Russia. 
While abroad, he perfected asystem of Universal Currency, which in its main 
features was adopted, though without acknowledgment, by a conference repre 
sentJing nineteen nations, held at Paris in 1S67. Mr. Tefft died al Florence, De- 
cember 12, L859, after a Short illne>s, in the 34th year of his age. 



28 HISTORY OF THE 

one sex, the female children, so that every home shall have an educated 
mother. Bring the mighty stimulus of the living voice and well matured 
thought on great moral, scientific, literary and practical topics, to bear 
on the whole community so far as it can be gathered together to listen to 
popular lectures. Introduce into every town and every family the great 
and the good of all past time, of this and other countries by means of 
public libraries of well selected books. And above all, provide for the 
professional training, the permanent employment, and reasonable com- 
pensation of teachers, — and especially of female teachers, for upon their 
agency in popular education must we rely for a higher style of manners, 
morals and intellectual culture." 



Sentiments like these can never become obsolete. 

The meeting was also addressed by Messrs. William Gam- 
mell, Osgood and Bishop. 

In 18f)6, Mr. Kingsbury declined re-election as President 
of the Institute, an office he had held eleven years with great 
acceptance. These were years of vast importance in the his- 
tory of the Institute. It was the formative period in the 
new educational dispensation, and its industry in molding 
chaotic elements into seemly form was well rewarded. Old 
errors were brought to light and exploded, new methods 
were brought forward and established, and a broad, solid 
foundation was laid, upon which to build a system such as 
the progress of the age and the needs of the State demanded. 
Mr. Kingsbury's mature experience as the Principal of a 
flourishing School for Young Ladies, his extensive acquaint- 
ance with the leading educators of the time, whose assistance 
as lecturers he was able to command, his thoiough under- 
standing of the philosophy of education, together with the 
confidence reposed in his sound judgment, eminently quali- 
fied him to give effective direction to the operations of the 
Institute, and his labors to that end were untiring. To his 
forecast and active interest the Association is indebted for a 
fund from the income of which a portion of its annual ex- 
penses is defrayed. 

On retiring from a position that had been marked by great 
industry and success, the appreciation of Mr. Kingsbury's 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 29 

services by the Institute was expressed in the following reso- 
lution, unanimously adopted : 

" Resolved, That the thanks of this Institute are hereby given to Mr. 
John Kingsbury for his long, very able and very faithful services as its 
first President, and that we heartily congratulate him on the success of 
his efforts in behalf of our Association, and in the great cause of educa- 
tion, to which the earnest labors of his life have been so efficiently de- 
voted." 

Professor Samuel S. Greene, of Brown University, was 
elected to till the office vacated by Mr. Kingsbury, and held 
it four years. During this time he brought many valuable 
influences to the support of the Institute. He labored earn- 
estly to establish the Normal School on a solid foundation, 
and to elevate the standard of education, by lectures, addresses,, 
and the stimulus of personal communication with individuals 
interested in the cause. In this work he was vigorously 
assisted by Mr. Dana P. Colbourn, whose sudden death by 
casualty in 1855, awakened sadness throughout Rhode Island,, 
where he was well known and highly esteemed, as it did in 
the wide circle of friends in other States. Professor Greene 
retired from the presidency of the Institute in 1860. The 
successive incumbents to January, 1874, have been John J.. 
Ladd, William A. Mowry, Thomas W. Bicknell, Noble W. 
DeMunn, James T. Edwards, Albert J. Manchester, and 
Merrick Lyon.* The distinguishing features of these respective 
administrations will be seen in the synopsis of meetings given 
in subsequent pages. Under each president the Institute has 
continued to prosper. Its value as an educational agent was 
never more highly estimated than at present. 

The educational condition of the State in 1844, as relates 
to school houses, length of school terms, attendance, etc., is 
fairly exhibited by the following statements derived from offi- 
cial sources : 

* Mr. Isaac F. Ciuly, an experienced educator, succeeded Mr. Lyon as President, 
January, 1874. 



30 



HISTORY OF THE 



"As the schools were then organized, four hundred and five school 
houses were required, whereas but three hundred and twelve were pro- 
vided. Of these twenty-nine were owned by towns in their corporate 
capacity; one hundred and forty-seven by proprietors; and one hundred 
and forty-five by school districts. Of two hundred and eighty houses 
from which full returns were received, including those in Providence, 
twenty-five were in very good repair; sixty-two were in ordinary repair; 
and eighty-six were pronounced totally unfit for school purposes; sixty- 
five were located in the public; highway, and one hundred and eighty 
directly on the line of the road, without any yard or outbuildings 
attached ; and but twenty-one had a play ground enclosed. In over two 
hundred school rooms the average height was less than eight feet, with- 
out any opening in the ceiling, or other effectual means for ventilation ; 
the seats and desks were calculated for more than two pupils, arranged 
on two or three sides of the room, and in most instances, where the re- 
sult of actual measurement was given, the highest seats were over 
eighteen inches from the floor, and the lowest, except in twenty-five 
schools, were over fourteen inches for the youngest pupils, and these 
seats were unprovided with backs. Two hundred and seventy schools 
were unfurnished with a clock, blackboard, or thermometer, and only five 
were provided with a scraper and mat for the feet." 

These houses were badly lighted, poorly ventilated, and 
imperfectly warmed. There were no hooks and shelves for 
garments and hats: no well, sink, basin and towels to secure 
cleanliness; no places of letiiement for children of either 
sex; and around the houses no verdure, trees, shrubbery and 
flowers for the eye. 

"In some districts an apartment in an old shop or dwelling house was 
fitted up as a school room ; and in eleven towns, the school houses, such 
as they were, were owned by proprietors, to whom in many instances, 
the districts paid in rent a larger amount than would have been the inter- 
est on the cost of a new and commodious school house. 11 

"The whole number of persons over four and under sixteen years of 
age, the ordinary but not exclusive subjects of school education, in the 
different towns in the State, including the.city of Providence, was about 
thirty thousand. 

" The whole number of persons of all ages who attended any school, 
public or private, any portion of the year, was twenty-four thousand. 01' 
this number, twenty -one thous-md were enrolled as attending the public 
schools, and three thousand as receiving instruction at home, or in pri- 
vate schools, of different grades, at periods of the year when the public 
schools were open. At other periods of the year the number attending 
private schools, taught by teachers of public schools, was much larger. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 31 

"Of the twenty-one thousand connected with the public schools during 
the year, eighteen thousand only were between the ages of four and six- 
teen years. One-third of the whole number enrolled, attended school so 
irregularly, that the average attendance of children of all ages in the 
public schools, did not exceed thirteen thousand five hundred, or less 
than one-half of all the children of a proper school age. The number 
who attended school during the whole year, allowing for vacations of 
ordinary length, did not exceed five thousand, including scholars in pri- 
mary schools, while more than six thousand, on an average, did not 
attend a public school three months in the year. Less than half the 
whole number of scholars were girls. Of the scholars over sixteen years 
of age, the proportion of boys to the girls was as five to one. Of the 
scholars over ten years of age, the number of boys were to the girls as 
four to one. 

"The average length of schools in twenty-seven towns, was about four 
months. In two hundred and fifty-five school districts, there was but one 
session of less than four months in the year, leaving a vacation of eight 
months. In one hundred and sixty-six districts the public schools were 
open but nine weeks in the year. Upwards of six thousand scholars 
attended public school less than three months; Avhile less than two thou- 
sand children, excluding the scholars in the public schools of Provi- 
dence, and of those districts where the public schools were kept through 
the year, attended eight months in the year. The general standard of 
attainment with scholars over eight years old, in most of the schools 
visited, was at least three years below what it should have been, if the 
same scholars hail commenced going to school when they were five years 
of age. 

" In ninety six districts, comprising in the aggregate three thousand 
eight hundred pupils, less than one thousand were present during the first 
week, ami more than that number did not join until after the close of the 
third week of the term. In the same district, four hundred and sixty 
left school three weeks before the term closed. The average length of 
the school term in these districts, was thirteen weeks. But not only was 
the nominal length of the school term curtailed in this way, but a portion 
was clipped both from the opening and close of every day's sessions " 

Add to till this the hick of tt uniform system of classifica- 
tion, the disregard by pupils of punctuality at the opening of 
the daily sessions, irregularity in attendance amounting to 
full one-third of till beloustfnff. the °:reat variety of books 
used, the crowding of pupils of all ages, capacities, and de- 
grees of advancement into one room, barren of furniture 
appropriate to either, with ti wide-spread indifference, if not 
positive hostility to change, and the reader will have a clear 



32 HISTORY OF THE 

idea of the condition and needs of the schools of Rhode 
Island when the State Commissioner commenced the work of 
improvement. 

In 184"), the Institute appointed Mr. William S. Baker, of 
South Kingstown, to act as its agent to carry forward the 
work and promote the objects it had in view. Mr. Baker's 
experience as a teacher, his singleness* of purpose, and his 
devotion to the cause of popular education, qualified him pre- 
eminently for the service assigned him. He entered heartily 
into the work, and became an invaluable coadjutor of the 
State Commissioner. Under the direction of a committee of 
the Institute, he traveled from town to town ; conversed with 
the people in their homes, in the field, and in the workshop ; 
visited the schools ; held meetings of the parents ; and in 
every other practicable mode endeavored to awaken an inter- 
est in educational improvement. The services he rendered 
were of immense advantage, and his name will ever be held 
in honor, as one identified with the public school movement 
embraced in the period of which we are now speaking. 

Mr. Barnard continued actively engaged in the duties of 
his office until 1849, when enfeebled health caused him to 
tender his resignation. Unable to write out his final report 
at the time, he was invited by the legislature to make an 
oral communication to the two houses in joint convention, on 
the condition and improvement of the public schools. This 
address, of two hours duration, fervid and heartfelt in utter- 
ance, commanded the undivided attention of the audience, and 
the views and facts presented made a deep impression. Both 
branches of the General Assembly united in a vote of thanks 
to Mr. Barnard for the able, faithful and judicious manner in 
which for five years he had fulfilled the duties of Commis- 
sioner of Public Schools in the State of Rhode Island. The 
teachers of the State, through a committee appointed for the 
purpose, presented him with a silver pitcher, as a testimonial 
of their respect and friendship, and of their appreciation of 
his services in the cause of education.* At the request of a 

* This committee consisted of Robert Allyn, Jenks Mowry, Solomon P.Wells, 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 33 

committee of citizens from different parts of the State, Mr. 
Barnard sat for his portrait, which was painted by Lincoln, 
of Providence, and presented to the Rhode Island Historical 
Society. 

During the five years of service by Mr. Barnard, more 
than eleven hundred meetings were held, expressly to discuss 
topics connected with the public schools, at which upwards 
of fifteen hundred addresses were delivered. One hundred and 
fifty of these meetings continued through the day and even- 
ing ; upwards of one hundred through two evenings and a day ; 
fifty through two days and three evenings ; and twelve, 
including Teachers' Institutes, through the entire week. In 
addition to this class of meetings and addresses, upwards of 

Fanny J. Burgos. Jane Fifield, Sylvester Patterson, and George W. Dodge. In the 
letter accompanying this gift the committee say : 

" Of the extent of your labors in preparing the way for a thorough re-organiza- 
tion of our system of public schools, and in encountering successfully the many 
difficulties incident to the working of a new system, few of us can probably be 
aware. But we can speak from a personal knowledge of the value of the Teachers' 
Institutes which have from time to time been held by your appointment, and pro- 
vided (too often, we fear, at your expense) with skillful and experienced instruc- 
tors., and practical lecturers; and of the many books and pamphlets on educa- 
tion and teaching, which you have scattered broadcast over the State. 

" We can speak, too, of what the teachers of the State know from daily observa- 
tion,— many of them from happy experience,— of the great change.— nay, revolu- 
tion, — which you have wrought in our school architecture; by which old, dilapi- 
dated, and unsightly district school houses have given way for the many new, 
attractive, commodious and healthy edifices which now adorn our hills and val- 
leys. We have seen, too, ami felt the benefits of the more numerous and regular 
attendance of scholars, of the uniformity of text-books, the more vigilant super- 
vision of school committees, and the more lively and intelligent interesl and co- 
operation of parents in our labors, which have been brought about mainly by 
your efforts. 

" The fruits of your labors may also be seen in the courses of popular lectures 
which are now being held, ami in the well-selected town, village and district libra- 
ries, which you have assisted in establishing, and which an- already scattering 
their life-giving influence through our beloved state. In the consciousness of 
having been the main instrumentality in effecting these changes, forwhich the 
generations ye't unborn will bless your memory, you have \ our own besl reward. 
.... May your future course he as honorable to yourself, as the past has been 
useful to the children and youth Of Rhode Island." 



34 HISTORY OF THE 

two hundred meetings of teachers and parents wore held for 
lectures and discussions on improved methods of teaching, 
and for public exhibitions or examinations of schools. 
Besides these various meetings, experienced teachers were 
employed to visit particular towns and sections of the State, 
and converse freely with parents, on the condition and im- 
provement of the public schools. By these agencies a meet- 
ing was held within three miles of every home in Rhode 
Island. In addition to all this, more than sixteen thousand 
educational pamphlets and tracts were distributed gratuitously 
through the State: "and one year not an almanac was sold 
in Rhode Island without at least sixteen pages of educational 
reading attached." This statement does not. include the official 
documents published by the State, nor the Journal of the 
Institute, nor upwards of twelve hundred bound volumes on 
schools and school systems, and the theory and practice of 
teaching, purchased by teachers, or added to public and pri- 
vate libraries.* 

These years of faithful service had left their impress on the 
State. They had been years of progress, and the sun on the 
dial of their record could not go back. On retiring from a field 
so industriously cultivated, Mr. Barnard had the satisfaction of 
seeing marked improvement in school houses, in methods of 
teaching, and in the. tone of the public mind touching the 
duties of parents, and the relation of intellectual culture to 
the social and material prosperity of the State. 

It would be interesting to trace in those pages the progres- 
sive steps by which, from 1848 the public schools of Rhode 
Island have advanced to their present standing ; but for all pur- 
poses of comparison some statistics drawn from the State 
Commissioner's reports for 1872 and 1373 will suffice. 

In 1872 the whole number of public summer schools in the 

• Before Mr. Barnardlefl the state, a library of at least live hundred volumes 
had been secured for twenty nine out ot the thirty-two towns. The firsl districl 
library established during his official connection wit!) the Mate was at Ports- 
mouth. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. OD 

State was 687 ; winter schools, 727; pupils in the summer 
schools, 26,912; winter schools, 28,702. Within that year 
il is believed not less than 34,000 different pupils enjoyed the 
benefit of public school instruction. The number of male 
teachers employed in summer was 93 : in winter, 177 ; fe- 
male teachers in summer, 616; in winter, ,079. The amount 
expended for teachers and school houses was $465,623.63, 
being an advance of $410,570.63 on the record of 1844. 
Indeed, the city of Providence expended in 1872, for the 
support of its schools, $155,000, exclusive of $40,000 ex- 
pended on school houses, approximating to nearly three times 
the sum appropriated thirty years ago for the support of all 
the public schools in the State. 

In 1873, the number of public schools in the State was 
719. Expenditures for school purposes, including salaries of 
teachers, $602,812.28. Number of male teachers, 172; fe- 
male. .385. The number of pupils registered in the fall 
schools, 24,905 : winter schools, 28,525 ; spring schools, 
21,919. Number of pupils registered for the entire year, 
3 ,448. Percentage of attendance in summer schools, 82 ; 
fall schools, 81; winter schools, 79; spring schools, 82. 
Percentage of attendance during the year, 81. Estimated 
number of children in private and Catholic schools, 8,000; 
instructed at home, 1,000 ; instructed at public and private 
day schools, or, instructed at home, 38,500.* 

In 1873, Providence expended for school purposes, $267,- 
597.25, or $72,597.25 more than was expended in 1872. Of 
this sum, $146,656.13 were paid for teachers* salaries. The 
school returns for the same year show the average monthly 
salary paid male teachers in the State to have been $75.72 ; 
the average salary per school year, $677.69. The average 
salary of female teachers, per month, was s 1 1.97 ; the average 
salary per year, $375.63. The highest salaries were, and 
continued to be, paid in Providence. These statistics exhibit 
a commendable advance upon former years, though the com- 

• State Commissioner's Report for L87S. 



36 IIISTOKY OF THE 

pcnsation for competent services is still less than it should 
be. The school year of Rhode Island, counting the weeks of 
actual teaching, is now the longest of any State in New 
England. That the influence of the Institute has largely 
aided in producing these results, there can he no doubt. 

On a preceding page, under consecutive date, it should 
have been stated that, in 1839, Mr. Nathan Bishop, then a 
tutor in Brown University, was appointed Superintendent 
of Public Schools in Providence 1 . The idea of this office 
originated with Mr. John L. Hughes and Mr. Simon Henry 
Greene, the former being a member of the school committee, 
and both members of the Common Council of that city. Its 
recommendation for adoption was presented to the council in 
the report of a committee of which Mr. Hughes was chair- 
man, and to whom the subject of reorganizing the school 
system of the city had been committed. The report bears 
date September 25, 1837, and is signed by the chairman, 
Stephen T. Olney, Henry Anthony, Amherst Everett, Seth 
Padelford, and James E. Butts. The recommendation grew 
out of private conversations between Mr. Hughes* and Mr. 
Greene, who heartily co-operated in all measures for advanc- 
ing the interests of the schools ; and the advantages derived 
from incorporating this office into the revised system of edu- 
cation became at an early day so obvious, that the example was 
soon followed by Boston, and in successive years by the cities 
of other States in the Union. In Rhode Island every town 
is now, under authority of statute law, provided with a school 
superintendent. "The practical value of this important 
school officer to each town, has proved the wisdom of the 
law creatine.' the office." t 



* Mr. Hughes was a son of Major Thomas Hughes, a brave and highly esteemed 
officer of the lie volution. He gave a hearty supporl to the cause of public educa- 
tion, and the inclusion of a High School in the plan of public- instruction in Provi- 
dence, in 1838, was largely due to his exertions. 

f State Commissioner's Report, 1873. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 37 



Mr. Barnard's Successors. 

On the retirement of Mr. Barnard from the offiee of State 
School Commissioner, Hon. Elisha R. Potter, of Kingston, 
was appointed his successor. His extensive acquaintance 
throughout the State ensured him ready access to many per- 
sons of influence, whose co-operation was desirable, while 
his legal knowledge qualified him to decide promptly all 
questions brought to his attention on appeal. 

One of the most useful services rendered to the schools 
by Mr. Potter consisted in making the law relating to them 
familiar to the people. It was almost entirely a new system. 
True, there were districts before, but the change was very 
great. The powers of districts and of school officers were 
very much increased and attempted to be defined. It was 
the introduction of a great deal of new machinery, of course 
involving considerable friction. The largest portion of 
the remarks intended to elucidate the law, and the forms to 
facilitate the business of officers under it, had been prepared 
by Mr. Potter before that, and without doubt his exertions 
resulted in preventing, by anticipation, much of the ill-feel- 
ing which would have ended in law-suits, and which when 
once excited in a district, would have retarded the progress 
of the schools for years.* 

Another feature of Mr. Potter's administration was a 
movement to awaken a ta^te for the study of Natural History 
in the higher grades of schools, a study in which few at that 

* At the January session of the General Assembly, 1873, a committee consisting of 
Hon. Elisha R. Potter, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Hon. Thomas W. 
Bicknell, State Commissioner of Public Schools, ami Hon. Joshua M. Addeman, 
Secretary of State, was appointed to cause to be printed a Manual containing the 
school laws of Rhode Island, for the use of school committees, trustees of school 
districts, and other officers or persons concerned in the administration of public 
schools. It makes a neat volume of 2S4 pages., and will be found very convenient 
or reference. 



38 HISTORY Or THE 

time were interested. For this purpose he made engage- 
ments with Professor Benoit Jaeger, an eminent naturalist, 
to deliver lectures before Teachers' Institutes, held in different 
parts of the State. Professor Jaeger was an accomplished 
scholar, and by extensive travels, and scientific research, was 
thoroughly qualified for the duty assigned him* while his 
enthusiasm and fund of illustrative anecdotes, imparted to 
his lectures a charm which gained for him, whenever he 
spoke, a numerous and attentive audience. To these labors 
may be attributed much of the interest in Natural History 
since manifested in Rhode Island.* 

In his final report to the General Assembly, January, 1854, 
Mr. Potter recommended the establishing of a Board OF 
Education, as a means of "concentrating the efforts and 
exertions of those who would be disposed to take an active 
part in promoting the cause of education." He also submit- 
ted a bill for that purpose, but for reasons unnecessary to 

* Professor Jaegar was a unlive of Austria, and of noble parentage. He was 
born in Vienna, and after graduating atthe University of that city, entered the 
service of tlir Emperor Alexander of Russia, as Naturalist and lecturer in the 
University of St. Petersburg. After the decease ofthat monarch, he, by direction 
of the Czar Nicholas, explored the Crimea, a region then but little known, anil to 
which he gave the name of Trans Caucasia. His report on the natural riches of 
that country was published at Leipsic in L830. lie subsequently explored St. 
Domingo. On retiring from the imperial service he came to the United states, 
and was for nine years Professor of Natural History ami Modern Languages in 
Princeton College. Winn a National Scientific Institution, to be established in 
Washington, was projected, he was offeredand accepted a Professorship in his 
favorite departments of Zoology, Entomology and Botany, bul the Smithson 
bequest led to an abandonment of the original scheme, and alWr a residence of 
several years al Alexandria, Va., he became interested in a private Academy in 
New Jersey, and afterwards opened a Polytechnic School on Staten Island, N. Y. 
This institution failing of anticipated success, he in 1850, loot up his abode in 
Providence, and altera residence of live years in that city, removed to Brooklyn, 
X. Y.. Where he died in the eighty-third year of his age. lie was the author of a 
Hand Book of Zoology, designed for the use of common schools and academies, 
and Of "The Life of North American Insects," which passed through two editions. 
Professor Jaeger's genial temperament, varied knowledge, and extensn e personal 
acquaintance with contemporary savants in Europe and America, rendered hi> 
conversations alike interesting and instructive. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 39 

mention, the recommendation was not adopted. The subject 
at different tunes engaged the attention of the Institute, 
but it was not until 1870, that the proposed measure became 
a law. 

As a means of communicating more frequently with the 
public, than could be done through annual reports, .Mr. 
Potter, in 1852, commenced the publication of the " Rhode 
Island Educational Magazine." This became the repository 
of school documents, changes in school laws, decisions on the 
construction of the law, information of educational meetings 
and their proceedings, and such other reading matter as would 
interest and instruct. This magazine was supported princi- 
pally by the private contributions of gentlemen interested in 
advancing the cause to which it was devoted, and was sent 
gratuitously to the chairmen and clerks of school commit- 
ters, and to the clerk of every school district. In this man- 
ner important information was widely diffused and much good 
accomplished. 

When Mr. Potter retired from office in 1854, the appoint- 
ing power found a competent successor in Rev. Robert 
Allyn, of East Greenwich. The three years of his admin- 
istration were industriously improved, and much was done by 
him towards building up a healthy public sentiment on the 
subject of education. His reports to the General Assembly 
contained many practical suggestions, the results of careful 
observation and reflection. His views of the education of 
females are worthy of being repeated. He said : 



" The education of females is of quite as ranch importance as that of 
males. For from these, we must, as our statistics show, recruit the 
ranks of our teachers, and from the nature of the case, these females 
must be the guides and instructors of the earliest and most impressible 
years, of each person in the coming generation. If the teachers, the 
nurses, and the mothers of any people are ignorant and unrefined, are 
degraded and vicious, or tending to become so. it is in vain to hope for 
brave, intelligent, moral, and high-minded sons. On the other hand, if 
the mothers and teachers are learned and virtuous, enlightened and ele- 
vated in sentiment, their sons cannot fail, in most instances, to be worthy 



40 HISTORY OF THE 

of the noble women who bore and instructed them. We ought then to 
give more attention to this subject of the education of girls — especially 
among the poorer" class, and in the country towns; and we should lie par- 
ticularly careful to see that the girls shall not be deprived of their proper 
share of school privileges, simply because they make better nurses for 
younger children, or more profitable assistants in the kitchens than boys 
do; or because it is erroneously taken for granted, that ihey do not need 
so good an education, since they are not designed to carry on machine 
shops, or conduct the barter of trade and commerce, or to manage the 
affairs of the national administration. They are to bring up and to educate 
the men ot the nation, and to carry on all the complicated and beneficial 
operations of our household, and these very necessary and important 
affairs require not only skill and common sense, but also education' and 
discipline. Let the girls be«edueatcd, therefore, quite as numerously and 
as thorough in our schools as the boys, if we would derive the largest 
profit from our system of public instruction." 



Of the qualities that should he found in teachers, Mr. Allyn 
spake as follows : 

" Let but a bit of iron, of the proper temper, be brought into contact 
with a powerful magnet, or be placed in a proper position in relation to 
a current of electricity, and it will itself become magnetic, to the full 
capacity of its nature; and if properly placed afterwards, will never lose 
that magnetic character. So it is with men, but especially so with 
children. Let them be brought into close contact with a strong mind, 
and they feel its power, and imbibe its peculiar characteristics. They 
cannot avoid imitating its habits and manners, and they must be molded 
and shaped and magnetized by its influence. It is therefore of the highest 
consequence to our schools and lo our system of public education, to seek 
suc!i strong men and women — stiong in goodness and in purity, strong in 
all truthful and noble qualities of manliness and womanliness — to be the 
teachers of our growing children. We must insist that these teachers 
shall be not only educated, but that they shall be polished, refined, loving, 
wise, and philanthropic; that they shall have superadded to every thing 
that can be learned, or that is native, something even higher than that 
boasted common sense, without which man is always a blunderer— a 
nameless something that makes men more than simply teachers, by 
giving to them a power to impress and elevate, by the force of a charac- 
ter seen and felt, but not to be described, a something that goes out of 
them, as heat goes out of a fire, or light out of a glowing lamp, no man 
knows how or why, but with a power that cannot be resisted ; a some- 
thing that silently steals its way into the hearts of all in its neighborhood, 
imperceptibly and lovingly as magnetic influences creep over the individ- 
ual particles in a mass of iron filings, and, without affecting in any way, 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 41 

their nature or substance, change them all, from apparently dead matter, 
into things with life that longs to love, embrace, and adore the polarizing 
body. These are the influences we must seek in our schools, and we 
must look for the teachers who can exert them."* 



Ill 1857, Mr. Allyn retired from the post be had usefully 
and satisfactorily filled. His successor was lion. John 
Kingsbury, whose previous experience as a successful edu- 
cator, and whose knowledge of the condition of the State, 
acquired while President of the Institute, well qualified him 
for the place he was called to fill. He begun his work by a 
tour of inspection. He went from town to town and district 
to district, until he had visited every school in the State. 
These visits were usually made in company with some school 
officer, or some other person in the town interested in the 
public schools. In riding from one district to another favor- 
able opportunity was afforded for free consultation upon every 
topic and feature of the school system, for explaining more 
fully the meaning of the school law, for suggesting methods 
of settling difficulties, and overcoming obstacles where they 
existed, and for obtaining such knowledge of the status of 
the schools as would be helpful in remedying evils and point- 
ing out ways for improvement. The work so faithfully and 
thoroughly done, contributed to advance the welfare of the 
schools. In his report to the General Assembly, Mr. Kings- 
bury gave an encouraging view of the work, together with 
practical suggestions in regard to the examination of teachers, 
the improvement of school houses, the furnishing and changing 
of school books, and other topics. In speaking of the influ- 
ence of schools, he says : 

"Good schools will add to the pecuniary value of farms and other 
property, in their immediate neighborhood; but what is of far greater 
consequence, they will raise the standard of intellectual and moral ex- 

* With the dose of Mr. Potter's acEministration, the Educational Magazine ceased 
to exist. At the annual meeting of the Institute in 1854, it was voted to establisl 
the Rhode Ixlunrf Schoolmasti r, and Mr. Allyn was appointed its editor. 

6 



42 HISTORY OF THE 

cellenee. The welfare; of children .should never be weighed in the scales 
of pecuniary gain or loss. There is something infinitely higher and 
better than money — and thai is character." 

His opinion of the Normal School, which had then been 
organized about four years, he thus expresses: 

"My visitation enables me to bear strong testimony in favor of the 
training and instruction which are given in our Normal School. I am 
convinced that it is an instrumentality in the cause of public schools 
which cannot be, at present, rightly estimated. The time; is nol far dis- 
tant, however, when the people of the State will feel that no money for 
the promotion of education, is more wisely expended than that which is 
appropriated to the support of the Normal School. They will see that 
from such an expenditure they are themselves to reap special blessings 
which are to come into their own households. This is not the work of a 
day. Time must Ix- given, not only for the tree to be planted, but also 
for its fruit to come to maturity. If it were otherwise, it would be con- 
trary to the analogy of other human institutions." 

In all his work Mr. Kingsbury received the hearty co-ope- 
ration of the Institute 

Mr. Kingsbury was succeeded in 1859 by Dr. Joshua B. 
Chapin, who, with an interregnum of two years, held the 
office until 1809. His eight years of service covered a period 
in which the distracted state of the public mind caused by 
the Rebellion, affected all interests. From the consequences 
of an absorbing anxiety for the salvation of the nation, which, 
like Aaron's rod, swallowed up almost every .other thought, 
the public schools could not be expected wholly exempt. 
Btit though many excellent teachers withdrew for a time from 
their profession and entered the Union army, and a very con- 
siderable draft was made upon children and youth of school 
age, to supply the places in factories, vacated by adults who 
had in like manner enlisted, the schools suffered less than 
might reasonably have been supposed, and it is gratifying to 
notice that during the five years of intestine war, the reports 
show a gradual improvement in their condition. Dr. Chapin 
pursued the course of his predecessors in visiting the several 
school districts, noticing the general condition of schools and 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 43 

school houses, observing the methods of discipline and in- 
struction, and offering such suggestions and remarks as the 
circumstances seemed to require. He also addressed meet- 
ings of the citizens upon various topics of educational inter- 
est. In his several reports he urged the necessity of parental 
co-operation with teachers — frequent visits to the schools by 
parents and committees, —a careful selecting 'of sites for 
school houses, so as to secure ample grounds around them, — 
care in the choice and appointment of teachers, — encouraging 
music in all our schools for its refining influence in the culti- 
vation of moral and social character, as well as an aid in dis- 
cipline, — a large experience and high qualities of mind and 
character in teachers of Primary schools, for the reason that 
no department of instruction suffers more than this from in- 
attention. He affirmed that our Primary schools are of pri- 
mary importance, — that foundations laid here must modify, 
as well as sustain, the entire superstructure, — that the temple 
cannot be broader than its base, — and that it is not enough 
in these schools to make right impressions ; they should be 
made in the right way. In his report in 18(i4, he advocated 
a liberal policy in the compensation of teachers, in order to 
secure for the schools the best quality of teaching talent, in 
these words : 

" No man can be expected to'give his life for less than what will enable 
him to live. No man expects to secure able and faithful agents in other 
departments of business if he does not sufficiently compensate them. 
The shrewd manufacturer bids high for skillfid labor, and so wilh the 
mechanic and the artizar. The anxious father employs the best medical 
aid for his sick son, and expects to pay for it. The embarrassed client 
consults the most learned counsel, and he expects the fee to be, in some 
degree, the measure of the value of the service which he receives. No 
congregation hopes to secure the services of a ' popular divine ' without 
the payment of a liberal salary. And no parent who is not culpably in- 
different to the educational interests of his children, would think of lim- 
iting the wages of the schoolmaster to less than those of the common day 

laborer Parents have no claim upon tin; services of a good 

teacher, who are unwilling to pay the frugal expenses of such a teacher, 
and to remunerate him for the time, labor and cost of securing his edu- 
cational qualifications." 



44 HISTORY OF THE 

Henry Rousmaniere, Esq., of Cranston, became the suc- 
cessor of Dr. Chapin, in 1861, and continued in office two 
years, when the latter again received the appointment of 
Commissioner. Mr. Rousmaniere commenced his work after 
the manner of his predecessors, by a survey of the field he 
was to occupy. In the first six months of his administration 
he made more than three hundred visits to different district?, 
to make himself "acquainted personally with the practical 
working of our system of education.'" 

Mr. Rousmaniere's views of the work of true education arc 
expressed in the following extracts from his report for 1863 : 

"True education aims at the growth of the body and mind; neither to 
be so developed as to disturb the harmony of the other; and both to 
kneel in homage to the moral faculty. 

" Right education secui - es the health of the physical system through 
the laws of endurance and activity; stimulates the imagination to a sense 
of the grand and beautiful in art and nature; awakens the understanding 
to acquaintance with the practical problems of the age; guides the rea- 
son to lift itself higher than the plane of the senses; vivifies the affec- 
tions to a love of truth rather than self; true wisdom rather than mere 
book learning; eternity rather than time." 

In 1<S()9, Hon. Thomas W. Bicknell, of Barrington, suc- 
ceeded Dr. Chapin in the office of State Commissioner. He 
brought to its duties a valuable preparation drawn from an 
experience of several years as a teacher in Grammar and 
High Schools, combined with an earnest purpose. In the 
outset he made a careful survey of the Stute, thus informing 
himself of the actual condition and needs of every town and 
school district. His early effort was, by frequent private 
conversations and public addresses, to awaken among the 
people a hearty interest in the work of school advancement. 
In the five years that Commissioner Bicknell has held the 
office, his activity in the discharge of his duties has been un- 
remitting, and the scope of his thought and labors is well in- 
dicated by the various topics embraced in his annual reports 
to the General Assembly. Feeling, at the beginning, the 
need of a Normal School, :is a means of ensuring to the 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 45 

schools of the State teachers of broad and liberal culture, and 
also of a State Board of Education, which " would concen- 
trate its influence and exertions to promote the healthy growth 
of our public schools," he recommended their establishment 
to t>e General Assembly. To this recommendation that 
body cordially responded, and both the School and the Board 
were established by law ; the latter coming into existence in 
1870, and the former in 1871.* In addition to conducting, 
as editor-in-chief, the Rhode Island Schoolmaster, attending 
and participating in the meetings of the Rhode Island In- 
stitute of Instruction, the Commissioner has continued, 
year by year, a series of local visitations, besides holding 
numerous independent Institute meetings in different parts 
of the State, for the benefit of teachers, and for the purpose 
of strengthening school interests in the hearts of parents and 
guardians of youth. In the same time a system of meetings 
of town and city school superintendents for consultation and 
interchange of opinions, has been established, a broad founda- 
tion for a State educational library, for the use of the Com- 
missioner's office has been laid, generous appropriations from 
the General Assembly for various educational purposes have 
been secured, and many other things done to advance the 
cause In review of the year 1873, the Board of Education 
say : 

" In the survey of the work, and its results for the past year, the Board 
have abundant reason to congratulate the General Assembly on the ad- 
vance that has been made in the cause of popular education. The rich 
fruitage of the earnest and faithful labors of our indefatigable Commis- 
sioner, are becoming more and more manifest every year." 

In bringing this brief notice to a dose, the following ex- 
tract from the Commissioner's report for 1870, entitled " The 
Education We Need" will be regarded as pertinent : 

" Every child in the State is entitled to a good common school educa- 

* Further notice of the Normal School will be found in another part of this 
work. 



46 HISTORY OF THE 

tion. The State Constitution guarantees tins, as a fundamental right, 
preparatory to the large and responsible duties of the citizen and elector. 
The twelfth article of our State Constitution declares, that the diffusion 
of knowledge as well as of virtue among the people, being essential to 
the preservation of their rights and liberties, it shall be the duty of the 
General Assembly to promote public schools, and to adopt ail means 
which they may deem necessary and proper to secure to the people the 
advantages and opportunities of education. To fulfil those declarations, 
free schools have been established, and so far as they have accomplished 
their proper and legitimate work, have aided in preserving the rights and 
liberties of the people. A public school system was established, and has 
been maintained, with variable measures of success, in exact correspond- 
ence to the amount of interest, zeal, and labor which was infused into it 
by school officers, teachers and patrons. A perfect system may become a 
perfect failure if it does not feel the vital forces pervading it which 
spring from the popular will. An imperfect system may be made to do 
wonders if its defects are supplemented by an intelligent and enthusiastic 
body of workers, supporting and advancing its interests. To secure such 
a hearty cooperation from the whole people, the working plan must 
touch and vitalize every interest, and in its broad and liberal provisions 
it must meet the present and anticipate the prospective -wants of every 
child and every man in society. A noted kingand philosopher of ancient 
times, when asked what kind of an education should be given to bi ys, 
answered, 'That kind of knowledge they will need to use when they be- 
come men.' 

"A system of free schools to be universally popular must be univer- 
sally practical, so much so that the dullest comprehension may see some- 
thing of intrinsic value in it. It becomes every intelligent citizen and 
legislator, therefore, to inquire to what extent the operations of the sys- 
tem meet the wants of the people, and wherein it fails to secure the de- 
sired end. The answers to their inquiries will suggest the methods of 
removing the difficulties which actually exist, in giving a good education 
to all the youths in our State." 



Synopsis of Institute Meetings. 

Having thus noticed the administration of each State 
School Commissioner, whose work was inseparably associ- 
ated with that of the Rhode Island Institute of Instruc- 
tion, we turn once more to the records of the Institute, and 
presold therefrom a synopsis of its proceedings as indicating 
its spirit and the direction of its labors. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 4 < 

On the 24th of January, 1845, was held tin* first meeting of the Insti- 
tute, W. Updike in the chair. The committee reported favorably on the 
draft of a Constitution prepared by Mr. Barnard, which was adopted. 
After remarks upon "The General Interests of Education in Rhode 
Island," by Messrs. II. Barnard. F. Wayland, A. Caswell. C Farnnm. 
S. Osgood, J. T. Sisson, ^. Bishop, and C. G. Perry, a committee was ap- 
pointed to nominate officers. 

Second Meeting. — J anuary 28th, 1845 at Providence. 

An election of officers was made, and John Kingsbury chosen the first 
President of the Institute. 

Prof. Gammell offered resolutions commendatory of the objects of the 
Institute, which were discussed by Messrs. L. Maile, J. S. Pitman, H. 
Day, C. Farnnm, II. Barnard, N. Bishop, G. L. Dwight, and Rev. Mr. 
Waterman. 

Third Meeting.-- February 19th, 1S45, at East Greenwich. 

Addresses upon "The Educational Wants of Rhode ' Island," by W. 
Updike and II. Barnard. 

Remarks upon "The Importance of Education," by S. Vernon and J. 
Durtee. 

Fourth Meeting.— February 28th and March 1st and 2d, 1845, at Woon- 
socket. 

Addresses upon " The Condition of Schools in Rhode Island," by W, 
Updike and H. Barnard; "The Evils of a Mis-directed Education," by 
H. Barnard. 

Discussions upon "School Houses; their location, construction, &c," 
by Messrs. J+B. Tallman, C. Farnnm, S. S. Greene, W. A. Steere, A. 
Harkness, J. Kingsbury. J. D. Giddings, and II Barnard; "The Causey 
of Failure in Teaching," by J. Kingsbury; "Method of Teaching Spell- 
ing," by Messrs. Barnard, Farnum, G. C. Wilson, T. Davis, and S. 
Bushee; " Method of Teaching Reading," by Messrs. Barnard, Farnum, 
Giddings, and others; " Music as a Branch of Education in Schools," by 
Messrs. S. W. Coggshall, Tallman, Giddings, and Barnard; "Means of 
Securing Regularity and Punctuality of Attendance," by Rev. J. Boyden ; 
" Methods of Conducting School Examinations," by H. Barnard. 

Fifth Meeting. — June 25th and S6lh, 1845. at Newport. 
Addresses by Messrs. Gammell, Thayer, L. B.Smith, Brooks, Barnard, 
F. Brown, E. Clark, Terry, and J. S. Tourtellott. 

Sixth Meeting.— September 12th, 1845, at Warren. 

Discussions upon school subjects, by Messrs. Barnard, T. R. Hazard, 
Dr. Moore. Hathaway, J. P. Tustin, and others. 

Addresses upon "The Connection Between Common School Education 

and State Prosperity," by Prof. Gammell; "How Parents may Second 

the Efforts of Teachers," by Rev. T. Shepard ; " Methods of Securing 

Regular Attendance of Pupils," by A. Perry, followed by Messrs. 

Barnard, Tustin, and others. 



48 HISTORY OF THE 

Seventh Meeting.— September 19th and 20th, 1845, at Valley Falls. 

Remarks upon "A Plan of Gradation for Schools,' 1 by Messrs. Barnard 
and Bishop; " Stability of Population Promoted by Good Schools." by 
T. M. Burgess; "Punctuality and Regularity of Attendance, by Messrs. 
II. Day and J. T. Sisson. 

Discussions on " Methods of Managing and Disciplining Schools," by 
Messrs. G. A. Willard, Crowell, J. B. Tallman, Sisson, Kingsbury, 
Farnum, Gay, Harkness, Giddings, Wilkinson, Benson and T. Davis; 
"Methods of Improvement of the Schools of the Village,' by Messrs. 
Kingsbury, Bishop and Day. 

Eighth Meeting.— September 26th and 27th, 1845, atChepaehet. 

Addresses on "The Public Schools the Only Available Means of a 
General Education," by J. Kingsbury; "The Importance of Moral 
Education." by Rev. Mr. Cheney; "My 'Experience as a Pupil and 
a Teacher," by C. Farnum; "The Importance of a Radical Change in 
our System of Public Education," by II. Barnard, followed by Messrs. 
Perry, D. G. Grosvenor, and Tourtellot. 

Ninth Meeting.— September 30th, 1845, at Olneyville. 

Address on "On Schools Good Enough for the Rich, and Cheap 
Enough for the Poor," by H. Barnard. 

Discussions by Messrs. Farnum, Day and Harkness. 

Remarks on the Importance of Paying Respect to the Teacher's Office," 
by O. Angell. 

Tenth Meeting— October 4th, 1845. at Pawtnxet. 

Addresses " On the Importance of the Gradation of Schools," by N. 
Bishop and II. Barnard; on "Uniformity of Education Necessary to 
Solid Equilibrium,*' by Rev. Mr. Osgood. 

Remarks on " The Warming of School-houses." by Messrs. Hartshorn, 
and Barnard. 

Eleventh Meeting.— October 7th. 1845, at Fruit Hill. 

Addresses by Messrs. Kingsbury, Bishop, Day, Darkness, and Belden. 

Twelfth Meeting.— October 10th, 1845, at Scituate. 

Addresses by Messrs. Kingsbury. E. W. Baker, and Rev II. Quimby. 

Tliirteenth Meeting.— October 14th, 1845, at Foster, Hemlock Village. 

Addresses by Messrs. Kingsbury, Bai*nard, and others; on "Town 
Libraries," by H. Barnard. 

Fourteenth Meeting.— October 30th, 1845, at Kingston. 

Address on " The Value of a Good Education in a Commercial Point 
of View," by Dr. Wayland. 

Remarks on "Educational Wants and Defects," by Messrs. Kingsbury, 
and W. S. Baker; "The Proper Construction of School-houses," by 
Messrs. Colgrove and Vernon ; " The Means and Importance of Securing 
Good Teachers," by Messrs. Goodwin, Davis, and Baker; •The Means 
of Increasing the Effectiveness of Schools in the Coming Winter," by H. 
Barnard. 

Fifteenth Meeting. — December 19th and 20th, 1845, at Bristol. 

Addresses upon " Punctuality," and other subjects, by Messrs. Kings- 



RHODE ISLAM) INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. <• 49 

bury, N. B. Cook, T. Shepard, Sykes, J. Gushee, Bosworth, Bishop, and 
Barnard. 
Discussions upon "Methods of Discipline and Instruction." 

Sixteenth Meeting. — second annual meeting.— January 15th, 1846, at 
Providence. 

Reports from the Treasurer and Executive Committee; Election of 
Officers. 

Remarks by Messrs T. Shepard, W. Russell, of Boston. Dr. Wayland, 
Vernon, Updike, Bishop, Caswell, Barnard, and others. 

Seventeenth Meeting. — January 30th and 31st, 1810, at Pawtucket. 

Remarks on " Who Should be Employed as Public School Teachers?" 
by N. Bishop; "The Rights of Children to an Education," by H. Day; 
" The Duty of Parents in Regard to School Discipline." by Dr. Carpenter. 

Discussions on •• Neatness in School-houses," by Messrs. G. C. Wilson, 
G. A. Willard, Giddings, Wickes, and Sisson; '-The Classification of 
Schools and Use of Monitors," by Messrs. Barnard, Giddings, Perry, 
Wilkinson, Benson and Wickes; i- The Value of Female Teachers,' 1 by 
Messrs. Barnard, Blodgett, Rounds, Willard, Wilkinson and Boyden; 
"The Use of the Bible as a School Book," by Messrs. J. Boyden, Hyde, 
Blodgett. Rounds, Willard, Farnsworth, Wickes, Perry, and Farnum ; 
" Corporal Punishment," by Messrs. Day, Farnum, Perry. Willard, Sis- 
son, Wilson Rounds, Benson and Barnard. 

Addresses by Messrs. Willard, Sisson and Barnard. 

Eighteenth Meeting. — third annual meeting.— January 7th, 1847, at 
Providence 

Reports from the Treasurer and Executive Committee; Election of 
Officers. 

Resold d, on motion of Dr. Wayland, that the Board of the Institute 
take measures to promote the establishment of District School Libraries 
through the State. 

A committee was appointed to memorialize the legislature for an ap- 
propriation lor the purpose of distributing the Journal of the Rhodt Island 
Institute of Instruction to the districts. 

Remarks on "The Improvements Effected in the Schools of Rhode 
Island,' 1 by Messrs. T. H. Vail, Whipple, A. Ballon, A. J. Manchester, 
Baker, Bishop, and Hunter. 

Nineh i nth Meeting. — February 6th, 1847, at Smithfield. 

Address by W. Updike. 

Discussion on "Methods of Government Available in the Country," by 
Messrs. Farnum, Giddings, and Harkness. 

Lecture on Elocution, by F. Russell. 

Twentieth Meeting. — February 1 9th, 1847, at Apponang Village. 

Addresses by Messrs Kingsbury, Updike. Raker, and Barnard. 

Lesson on Elocution, by F. Russell. 

Twenty-first Meeting. — February 20th, L847, at Knightsville. 
7 



50 " HISTORY OF THE 

Addresses by Messrs. Barnard, Baker, Kingsbury and Updike. 

Lecture on Elocution, by F. Russell. 

Drill of the pupils of W. S. Baker, in Elocution and Arithmetic. 

Twenty-second Meeting. — February 27th, 1817, at Johnston. 

Addresses by Messrs. Kingsbury, llarkness, Whiting-, Waterman, 
Raker, and Updike. 

Twenty-third Meeting— -March 19th, 1817, at Crompton Mills. 

Address by Mr. Whitney. 

Discussions. 

Exercises in Geography, Arithmetic, Singing, &c, by the scholars of 
several neighboring schools, by Mr. Baker. 

Twenty-fourth Meeting.— September llth, 1847, at Chepachet, on the 
occasion of the dedication of a new school building. 

Address on " Architecture as- Connected with Education," by J. Kings- 
bury; " The Advantages of a Good Education to Individuals and the 
Community,' 1 by Dr. Wayland. 

Remarks on " The Relations of Parents and Teachers, 11 by Messrs. 
Bishop, Fowle, and Brown. 

Twenty-fifth Meeting.— fourth annual meeting.— January 21st and 
25th, 1848, at Providence. 

Reports from the Treasurer and Executive Committee. 

Remarks on '• Progress of Education in Rhode Island," by Messrs. 
Vail, Updike, Sisson, Barnard and Bishop; "Town Libraries and Popu- 
lar Lectures," by Mr. Osgood; "The Duties of Parents to their Schools," 
by N. Bishop. 

Address on " The Progress and Condition of Schools in Rhode Island, 11 
by H. Barnard. 

Twenty-sixth Met ting. — At Newport. 

Remarks on "The Condition of Schools," by Messrs. Updike, Weeden, 
Barnard and Whipple. 

Twenty-seventh Meeting.— fifth annual meeting.— January 29th, 
1849, at Providence. 

Report "f Executive Committee; Election of Officers. 

Resolved, on motion of Prof. Gamin ell, (discussed on the two previous 
meetings,) that Education in Rhode Island will need the fostering care 
of the legislature, the continued attention of our efficient Commissioner, 
and the hearty cooperation of all classes of citizens. 

Remarks on "The Condition and Statistics <>t Education in the State," 
by H. Barnard; "Female Teachers," by Messrs. Bishop, and Baker; 
"The Condition of Schools." by Messrs. Porter, Hartshorn, and Hall. 

Twenty-eigJUh Meeting. — February 5th, 1849, at Providence. 

Address on "The Origin of the Public Schools of Providence," by E. 
M- Stone. 

Remarks on "The Condition of Schools, 11 by Messrs. Clark, Barber, 
Baker. (Jranston and S. Patterson; "The Need of Evening Schools in 
Providence," by E. M. Stone. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 51 

A committee appointed (Messrs. Hartshorn, Dumont, Shepard, Updike, 
and Harris) to prepare a statement respecting the school fund, and memo- 
i*alize the people upon the importance of leaving it intact. 

Voted, unanimously, that the president express to Mr. Barnard, on his 
resignation of the office of Commissioner of Public Schools, the high 
sense entertained by the Institute, of his labors in behalf of the Institute 
and of the State. 

Twenty-ninth Meeting.— sixth annual meeting.— January 18th and 
24th, 1850, at Providence. 

Election of officers. 

Address on " A Normal School in Connection with Brown University," 
by N. Bishop, with remarks by Dr. Wayland and others. 

Resolutions approving of the establishment of a State Normal School, 
recommending monthly meetin/s from October to March, with lectures, 
&c. 

Thirtieth Meeting.— February 1st, 1850, at Providence. 

Lecture on " The Duties and Qualifications of Teachers," by W. D. 
Swan, with remarks by Messrs. Kingsbury, Bishop, Mowry and others. 

Thirty-first Meeting. — March 8th, 1850, at Providence. 

Address on " Guyot's Physical Geography," by J. Kingsbury, followed 
by Messrs. Perry and Goodwin. 

lliirty- second Meeti?ig —October 18th, 1850, at Providence. 

Address on "The Brain," by Dr. Ray. 

Thirty-third Meeting.— November 1st, 1850, at Providence. 

Address on «■ The True Teacher," by J.. D. Philbrick. 

Thirty-fourth Meeting.- -J anuary 17th, 1851, at Providence. 

Address on '■ The Relations of Parents lo their Children in Regard to 
Education," by N. Bishop. 

Remarks on " The Condition of the Poor Children of Providence," by 
various speakers. 

Thirty-fifth Meeting. — SEVENTH annual 'meeting— February 9th, 
1851, at Providence. 

Report from the Treasurer; Officers elected. 

Lecture on " The Facilities enjoyed by Rhode Island for Promoting 
Civilization, by Dr. Wayland. 

Thirty-sixth Meeting.— eighth annual meeting.— January 23d, L852, 
at Providence. 

Election of Officers. 

Address on -'The Harmony of Public Schools with our Institutions,' 1 
by Dr. Sears. 

Thirty-seventh Meeting.— February 20th, 1852, at Providence. 

Lecture on " Drawing," by Prof. Whi taker. 

Thirty-eigJdh Meeting.— March 19th, 1852, at Providence. 

Address on " Geography," by Guyot. 



52 HISTORY OF THE 

Thirty-ninth Mutiny — April 2d. 1852, :it Providence. 

Address on " Teaching Arithmetic," by 1). P. Column. 

Fortieth Meeting.— ninth annual melting.— January 19th, 1853, at 
Providence. 

Election of Officers. 

Address on " '1 he Need of Compulsory Laws for Attendance at School," 
by J. Bates; " School Instruction in Manners," by G. II. Tillinghast. 

Forty-first Meeting. — tenth annual meeting.— January 17th, 1854, at 
Providence. 

Election of Officers. 

Address on " Educational Progress, and the Need of a Board of Edu- 
cation," by J. Kingsbury, with remarks by Messrs. S S. Greene. E. R. 
Potter, A. Perry, and E. M. Stone, upon a Slate Normal School. Moral 
and Physical Education, and School Examinations. 

Report from G. II. Tillinghast advising the use of a text-book, entitled 
the " Morals of Manners." 

Remarks on "Reading," by Mr. Sumner, of the Normal School. 

Forty-second Meeting. — eleventh annual meeting.— January 24th, 
25th and 2Gth, 1^55, at Providence. 

Reports bom the Treasurer and Executive Committee ; Officers elected. 

Address on " The Unconscious Tuition of the Teacher, by i. D. Hun- 
tington. 

Lectures on " Methods for Promoting Intellectual Culture by the 
Teachers," by D. P. Colburn; "Physical Geography," by Prof. Guyot; 
"Manner of Teaching Physical Geography," by Prof. Guyot; "The 
Relation of the State to Popular Education," by Dr. Sears; " Reading," 
by Dr. Sears; "The Influence of the Earth's Form upon Human Devel- 
opment," 1 by Prof. Guyot; "The Glaciers of Switzerland," by Prof. 
Guyot. 

Resolution- recommending the establishment of free public evening 
schools in the manufacturing villages and larger towns; moved by S. 
Austin, and discussed by Messrs. Stone, Greene, Tillinghast and Arnold; 
— that, in Normal Schools, instruction in the art of teaching should be 
the main object, and that a high standard of culture should be a pre-requi- 
site to admission; reported by a committee, and discussed by Messrs. 
Perry, Vail, Willard, Nash, Greene, Stone, and Colburn; — recom- 
mending the establishment of an educational journal under the super- 
vision of the Commissioner, and referring the subject to his action; 
reported by a committee, and discussed by Messrs. Perry, and Vail; — 
welcoming the new Commissioner of Public Schools, Rev. Robert Allyn. 

Forty-third Meeting.— twelfth annual meeting. — January 24th and 
25th, L856, at Providence. 

Election oi Officers; S. S. Greene elected President, J. Kingsbury de- 
clining a reelection. 

Addresses on " The Importance of Thorough Elementary Instruction," 
by A. R. Pope ; " The Value of the Popular Educator to the Community," 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF- INSTRUCTION. 53 

by W. W Uoppin; "The Varied Duties of a Faithful Teacher," by Rt. 
Rev. T. M Clark ; " Educational Progress in Rhode Island," by .1. Kings- 
bury. 

Resolutions of thanks to J. Kingsbury for his able, faithful, and long 
continued services. 

A committee reported favorably respecting the Rhode Island Schoolmas- 
ter, and a corresponding committee tor that journal, was appointed. 

Messrs. Leach, Allyn, and Stone were appointed to cooperate with the 
legislature in obtaining facts respecting truancy and vagrancy. Discus- 
sion by Messrs. Allyn, Leach, Stone, Cook, Boyden, Grosyenor, and 
others. 

Report from a committee recommending to the attention of teaehers a 
book entitled, "'Morals of Manners," by Miss C. M. Sedgwick. 

Forty-fourth Meeting.— thirteenth annua i. meeting. — January 31st, 

1857, at Providence. 

Report from the Treasurer ; Election of Officers. 

Messrs. Greene and Stone appointed to solicit from the General Assem- 
bly an appropriation in favor of the RJiode Island Schoolmaster: 

Forty-fifth Meeting.— May 28th and 29th, 1857, at Newport. 

Addresses on " Education," by G. II. Calvert; "The Chief Defects of 
Home Education," by Rev. W. Burton; "Mathematical Studies," by 
Rev. VV. Stow. 

Remarks on " The Advantages of the Social Position of the Teacher."" 
by W. Burton ; " The duties of Teachers in the Government and Moral 
Training of Children," by Messrs. Allyn, Colburn, Burton and Tenney. 

Discussion on " Capacity to Govern Without Corporal Punishment, the 
Highest Qualification of the Teacher," by Messrs. Hazard, Allyn, Stow*, 
and Burton. 

Forty-sixth Meeting. — fourteenth annual meeting. — February 6th, 

1858, at Providence. 

Election of Officers; Report of the Treasurer; balance on hand, 
81,141.16. 

Resolutions recommending the farther increase of evening schools, 
and free public libraries; on motion of S. Austin, seconded by Rev. E. 
M. Stone. 

Messrs. Greene and Leech were appointed to arrange with the Com- 
missioner for meetings of the Institute in different parts of the State. 

[The Records of six meetings are not preserved, and all the following 
numbers arc increased by that number.] 

Fifty-third Meeting.— fifteenth annual meeting.— February 27lh, 

1859, at Providence. 

Report of the Treasurer; Election of Officers. 

The Commissioner of Public Schools reported meetings of the Insti- 
tute during the year at North Foster, Chepachet, Crompton, Mashassuc 
and two at Valley Falls* 

Address on " Education in the Home," by Rev. W. Barber. 



54 HISTORY OF THE „ 

Fifty-fourth Meeting.— sixteenth annual meeting. — January -20th 
and 21st, 18(>0, at Providence. 

Election of Officers; Report of the Treasurer. 

Discussions on "Whispering and Intercommunication am ong Scholars." 
by Messrs. Cady, Foster, Smith, Willard. Terry, and Leach; "Means for 
Securing Attention in School," by Messrs. Gam well, Foster, Ladd, 
Mowry, and DeMunn; " The Influence of Education upon the Commu- 
nity," by Messrs. A. H. Clapp,' J. B. Chapin, Sears, Stone, and Leach: 
"Written Examinations," by Messrs. Manchester, DeMunn, nnd Snow. 

Remarks on "Means of Securing Punctual and Regular Attendance at 
School," by A. W. Godding. 

The Rhode Island Schoolmaster was made the organ of the Institute, 
and a Board of Editors appointed, after discussion by Messrs. Mowry, 
Ladd, Foster, Snow, Godding, Rohbins, Perry, Stone, Kent, Pierce, and 
Gamwell. 

Statement of "The Progress of Education in Rhode Island, and the 
Work of the Institute," by E. M. Stone. 

Resolutions of sympathy in the loss by death of John J. Slimson and 
Dana P. Col burn. 

Fifty-fifth Meeting— September 7th and 8th, I860, at Bristol. 

Lectures on "Obstacles in the Way of Intellectual Progress," by Dr. 
Chapin; " Normal Schools, their Origin, History, Claims and Results.' 1 
by Rev. B. G. Northrop; "Means of Obtaining a Knowledge of the 
English Language," by J.Kendall; "Vivacity in the Teacher," by D. 
Goodwin; "Physical Training," by Dr. D. Lewis. 

Discussions on " Too Great Attention to Arithmetic in our Schools," 
by Messss. Cady, Kendall, DeMunn, Snow, Bobbins, Manchester, and 
Ladd ; " The Subjects of the Lectures." by Messrs. Mowry, Pierce. North- 
rup, Ladd, DeMunn, Kendall, Chase, Mathewson, and Gallup; "The In- 
terests of the lihodc Island Schoolmaster,'" by Messrs. DeMunn, Mowry, 
Cady, Kendall, and Willard. 

Fifty-sixth Meeting.— October 12th, 1860, at East Greenwich. 

Lectures by Messrs. J. M. Talbot, J. Kendall, and Dr. Lewis. 

Fifty-seventh Meeting.— December 7th, 1860, at Blackstone. • 

Lectures by Messrs. S. S. Greene, H. K. Oliver, and W. A. Mowry. 

Fifty-cighUi Meeting.— J anuary 18th and 19th, 1861, at Centreville. 

Lecture on " Education, 1 ' by Rev A. Gardiner. 

Discussions on "Teaching Arithmetic: its Defects, and the Better 
Way," by Messrs. DeMunn, Kendall, and Manchester; "Education of 
Young Children," by J. Kendall; " Usefulness of Public Examinations," 
by Messrs. DeMunn, Manchester, Ladd, Willard, Snow, Kistler, Spauld- 
ing, and Kendall. 

Fifty-ninth Meeting.— seventeenth annual meeting-— January 25th 
and 26th, 1861, at Providence. 

Report of the Treasurer; Election of Officers and of Board of Editors 
for the llhode Island Schoolmaster. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 55 

Lectures on " The Relation of Mental Philosophy to Education," by B. 
G. Northrup; "The Sea," by Rev. L. Swain. 

Discussion on " The Mechanical Performance of Arithmetical Opera- 
tions," by Messrs. Willard, Stone, Leach, Green, Mowry, Ladd, Eastman, 
Pierce, Snow, Manchester, DeMnnn, Austin, and Kendall. 

Sixtieth Meeting.— March 1-t and 2d, 1861, at South Kingstown. 

Lectures on " Unwritten History," by Rev. A. Woodbury; " Writing," 
by S. A. Potter. 

Discussions on "Means of Securing Punctual and Constant Attendance 
at School," by Messrs. Gardiner, Tefft, Patten, DeMunn, and Phelps; 
" Reading," by Messrs. Grosvenor, Biiggs, Thurber, Leach, Potter, De- 
Munn, Snow, Tefft, Gardiner, and Tucker; "The Best Method of Teach- 
ing Arithmetic," by Messrs. Tefft, Snow, and DeMunn. 

Sixty-Jirst Meeimg.—^loxvmUev 22d and 23d, 1861, at Carolina Mills. 

Lectures on " Education," by H. Rousmaniere; "The Most Important 
Requisite in Teaching," by J. J. Ladd ; "Class Recitations," by J. Ken- 
dall. 

Discussion on "The Present Duties of Teachers to their Country," by 
Messrs. Greene, Stanton, Cady, Tillinghast, Kendall, Tefft, Seamans, 
Bailey, DeMunn, and Ladd. 

Resolved, That contributions of one cent from each scholar be solicited, 
for the aid of wounded soldiers. 

Sixty -second Meeting. — December 20th and 21st, 1861, at Peacedale. 

Lectures on " The Relation of the Mind to the Body," by H. Rousman- 
iere; " Teaching Letters and Spelling," by J. Kendall. 

Discussions on " Guarding Children Against Temptation, or Teaching 
Them to Resist It," by Messrs. Tefft, Maryot, M. S. Greene, Rousman- 
iere, Miller, Gorton, Clark, and Coon; " Difficulties in Teaching Geog- 
raphy." by Messrs. Tefft, Greene, Tillinghast, Stanton, and others; 
" Method of Illustrating Decimal Fractions," by Messrs. Tefft, Davis, 
Stanton, Tillinghast, Pcckham, Bentley, Greene, and others; "Good 
Order in Schools," by Messrs. Mowry, Stanton, Biiggs. Tillinghast, Ken- 
neth, and Coon; "Recitations in Reading," by Messrs. Thurber, Davis, 
Tefft, Briggs, Miner, and Coon; "Securing Prompt Attendance at 
School." by Messrs. Clark, Kendall, Stanton, and Mowry. 

Remarks on "The Duty of Teachers to their Country," by W. A. 
Mowry. 

Sixty-third Meeting. — January^4th and 5th. 1862, at Chepachet. 

Lectures on '• Principles of True Education, and the Difficulties Which 
Oppose It," by II. Rousmaniere; "Arithmetic and its Abbreviations," 
by N. W. DeMunn ; " Book-Keeping in Common Schools," by S. A. Pot- 
ter. 

Discussions on "The Lest .Method of Teaching Writing and Spelling," 
"The Connection of Oral and Written Arithmetic," " How Far English 
Composition Should be Taught." by Messrs. Rousmaniere, Chase, Brown, 
Peckham, Mowry, and others; "The Control of Teachers over their 
Pupils out of School." 



56 HISTORY OF THE 

Sixty-fourth Meeting.— eighteenth annual meeting.— January 31st 
and February 1st, 1862, at Providence- 
Reports of Treasurer and Recording Seei'etary; Election of Officers. 

Lectures on "The Comforts and Pleasures of School-keeping," by Rev. 
L. Whiting; "Culture of the Voice, 11 by S. Monroe, "English History," 
by G. Palmer. 

Discussion on " Good Discipline in School and How Maintained," by 
Messrs. Willard, Cady. Mowry, Ladd. G. T. Day, and J. M Talcott. 

Recitations in "Arithmetic," conducted by N. VV. DeMunn ; in 
"English Grammar," conducted by A. J. Manchester 

Appointment of a permanent committee to conduct the publication of 
the Rhode Island Schoolmaster. 

Resolution, moved by E. M. Stone, recommending an increase of 
evening schools. 

Sixty-fifth Meeting.— February 28th and March 1st, 1862, at Centreville, 
(Warwick.) 

Lectures on " Writing," by S. A. Potter: " The Comforts and Pleasures 
of School-keeping," by L. Whiting, "Spelling," by J.Kendall; "The 
Study of the U. S. Constitution in our Schools,"" by W. A. Mowry. 

Discussion on " The Teacher's Sphere of Usefulness," by Messrs. 
Husted, Leader, Brayton, and Cooke. 

Recitations in "English History,'" conducted by I). R. Adams; "The 
Art of Map-drawing." conducted by S. A. Briggs. 

Sixty-sixth Meeting. — April 11th and 12th, 1862, at Wiekford. 

Lecture on "The Teacher; his Works, and his Rewards," by A.J. 
Manchester. 

Discussions on "The Defects in Our Public 'Schools," by Messrs. Allen, 
Chadsey, Slocum, Potter, and others; "The Relative Duties of Parents, 
Teachers, and Pupils," by Messrs. Ladd, and DeMunn ; " Reading," by 
Messrs Manchester and DeMunn; ' The Present Duties of Teachers 
to their Country," by Messrs. Snow, Slocum, and others. 

Remarks on " Penmanship, 1 ' by S. A. Potter. 

Exercises in "Reading," conducted by F. B. Snow. 

Sixty seventh Meeting.— November 21st and 22d, 1862. at Westerly. 

Lectures on "The Qualifications of the Teacher," by J. Kendall: 
"Education Out of School," by Rev. H. Lincoln. 

Discussions on " The Responsibility of Teachers for the Punctuality 
and Attendance of Scholars,' 1 by Messrs. Kendall, Foster. Griswold, 
Woodbridge, Tefft, Greene, and Whitman; "Means of Making Rhode 
Island Pupils Fair Spellers," by Messrs. Kendall. Griswold, and Greene; 
" Educating a Community to a Right Appreciation of Good Teachers and 
Schools." by Messrs. Tefft, Foster, and Greene; ••The Bes Method of 
Presenting Decimals and Percentage." by Messrs. DeMunn, Kendall, 
Foster. Ladd, Greene, and others; " Elevating the Standard of Schools, 
and Exciting Pupils to Greater Diligence," by Messrs. Kendall, and 
Kenyan. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 57 

Sixty-eighth Meeting.— December 5th and 6th, 1862, at Wickford. 

Lectures on "Object Lessons," by J. Kendall; "Nature's Hieroglyphs," 
by Rev. C H. Fay. 

Discussions on "The Dependence of Teachers upon Text-Books;" 
" The Responsibility of Teachers for the Lack of a Delicate Moral Tone 
in their Pupils," by Messrs. Snow, Kendall, and others. 

Sixty-ninth Meeting. — December 19th and 20th, 1862, at Pawtucket. 

Lectures on "The Progress of Public Schools," by Rev. G. Taft; 
" Rook-keeping." by S. A. Potter; "The Duties of Parent Citizens to 
their Public Schools," by H. Rousmaniere; "The Scholar and his 
Country." by Rt. Rev. T. M. Clark. 

Poem on " Nature and its Revelations," by W. M. Rodman. 

Class exercises in " Spelling," conducted by J. Kendall, with remarks 
by Messrs. Snow, Willard, DeMunn, and others; "Reading," conducted 
by F. B. Snow. 

Discussion on " The Moral Influence of Teachers upon their Pupils in 
and out of School," by Messrs. Willard, Mowry, Gamwell, Ladd, and 
others. 

Seventieth Meeting. — January 9th and 10th, 1863, at Newtown, (Ports- 
mouth.) 

Lectures on " The Benefits of School Libraries," by Rev. S. D. Cogges- 
hall; " The True Relation of School and Home, Teacher and Pareut," 
by T. W. Bicknell; "The Cultivation of a Taste for the Beauties of 
Nature," by I. F. Cady. 

Discussions on "School Libraries," by Messrs. Kendall, Rousmaniere, 
Coggeshall, and Arnold; "The Assignment of Lessons to be Studied at 
Home." by Messrs. Kendall, Arnold, Gift'ord, and others; "Preventing 
Whispering and Motion of the Lips while Studying," by S. D. Coggeshall; 
" The Importance of the Cooperation of Parents," by Messrs. Rousman- 
iere, Cady, Belden, and Kendall; "The Assumption of Unwarranted 
Authority by Teachers," by Messrs. Bicknell, Cady, and Belden; 
" Method of Commencing the Study of Geography," by Messrs. Cady, 
Kendall, Chapman, and others. 

Seventy-first Meeting.— nineteenth annual meeting.— January 30th 
and 31st, 1863. at Providence. 

Report of the Treasurer; total amount of funds, Si, 237 61 ; Election of 
Officer. 

Lectures on "English Grammar," by Prof. S. S. Greene; "The Im- 
portance; and Mode of Training the Senses," by Rev. B. G. Northrup; 
"Physical Geography," by B. Harrison. 

Discussions on "The Responsibility of the Teacher for the Moral Con- 
dtr't of His Pupils," by Messrs. Cady, and DeMunn; "English Gram- 
mar," by Messrs. Cady, Willard, Tefft, Belden, Manchester, DeMunn, 
and Northrup; "The necessity of Sustaining the Rhode Maud School- 
masti r," by Messrs. Matteson, Northrup and Ladd. 

Class exercises in "Object Teaching," conducted by N. A. Calkins; 
"Spelling and Reading," by a class of colored children. 
8 



58 HISTORY OF THE 

Messrs. Ladd and DeMunn appointed to memorialize ihe legislature for 
an act of incorporation. 

Seventy-second Meeting. — February 19th and 20th, 1863, at Ashaway. 

Lectures on "The Teacher and His Work,'' by J.J. Ladd; "The 
Duties of Parents and the Public in Regard to Schools," by H. Rousman- 
iere; "School Tactics," by J. Kendall. 

Discussions on " Methods of Securing Greater Punctuality in Schools," 
by Messrs. Langworthy, Saunders, Greene, Kenneth, Maryott, Davis, 
Ladd, Collins, Stanton, Vincent, Morton, Coon, Rev. J. Clark, Rev. II. 
Clark, and Lewis; "The Use of Text-Books in Recitations," by Messrs. 
Ladd and Kendall. 

Class exercise in "BassinPs Method of Teaching Music," conducted by 
J. M. Stillman. 

Seventy-third Mutiny. — March 6th and 7th, 1863, at Kingston. 

Lectures on "The Scale on which the Universe is Built," by J. Ken- 
dall; "Mental Science." by II. Rousmaniere. 

Poem on " The Golden Era," by A. J. Foster. 

Discussion on the use of Text-Books in Recitations," by Messrs. Ken- 
dall, Eastman, Greene, Rousmaniere, Tefi't, and others. 

Seventy-fourth Meeting. , at River Point. 

Lectures on "English Grammar," by A. A. Gamwell; •' ," 

by. Rev. J. M. H. Dow. 

Discussions on "The Best Method of Teaching Geography," by Messrs. 
Rousmaniere, Aldrich, Fuller, Harrisor, Seamans, Eldridge, and Gal- 
lup; " The Most Prominent Faults in our Common Schools," by Messrs. 
Rousmaniere, Matteson, Eastman, Willard, Gamwell, Spaulding, and 
Kent. 

Remarks on "Penmanship," by B. Harrison. 

Seventy-fifth Meeting.— November 24th and 25th, 1863, at Westerly. 

Lectures (in "The Study of the English Language," by W. A. Mowry; 
" Duties of Parents to the School." by Dr. J. B. Chapin ; "Entrance to 
the Public High Schools Should be Determined by Scholarship, Ascer- 
tained by Competitive Examination," by Hon. H. Barnard. 

Discussions on "The Extent to which Teachers Should Assist their 
Pupils," by Messrs. Foster, Greene, Mowry, Chapin, and others; "The 
Greatest Evil in our Schools, and its Remedy," by Messrs. Ladd. Ames, 
Mowry, and others. 

School Reports were given by Messrs. Greene. Woodbridge, Coon, Til- 
linghast. Inman, Collins, Foster, Kenyon, Robbins and Mowry. 

Exercises in Gymnastics, by Messrs. Trine and Wood. 

Sanity sixth Meeting.— December 11th and 12th, 1863, at North Scituate. 

Lectures on "The Good Teacher," by Rev. Lyman Whiting; "Vitality 
in the School-room." by John J. Ladd. 

Discussions on "The Extent and Mode of the Teacher's Help to His Pn- 
pils in Mathematics," " The Use of the Blackboard in English Grammar," 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 59 

" Methods of Teaching Spelling," "Proper and Improper Penalties for 
Defective Recitations, or Bad Conduct," " Topical Recitations." 

Seventy-seventh Meeting.— January 15th and 16th, 1874, at Centreville. 

Lectures on " The Obstacles in the way of Successful Teaching." by J. 
B. Chapin; "The Teacher's Motives and Difficulties," by A. J. Man- 
chester. 

Discussions on "The Schools of Rhode Island Compared with those of 
Twenty Years Ago," by Messrs. Ronsmaniere, Husted, Adams, Seamans, 
Stone, and Malteson; "The Teaching of Music in our Schools," by 
Messrs Ronsmaniere. Gallup, Matteson, Laud, Spencer, Berry, and Kent; 
"The Obstacles to the Success of our Schools," by Messrs. Ladd, Spauld- 
ing, Ronsmaniere, and Mowry. 

Reports from Schools, by Messrs- Kent, Berry, Gal hip. Bates, Man- 
chester, Edwards, Eastman, Tefft, Bobbins, Spaulding and Mowry. 

Exercises in Gymnastics, by Dr. Wood. 

Remarks eulogistic of the lamented D. P. Col bourn, by Messrs. Ladd- 
Mowry. and Austin. 

Seventy-eighth Meeting.— twentieth annual meeting.— January 29th, 
and 30th, 1864, at Providence. 

Election of Officers. 

Lectures on " Morning Glories," by J.Kendall; "Object Teaching," 
by I. F. Cady; " The Study of History," by Rev. B. Sears; "The Rela- 
tion of the Scholar to the Rebellion," by J. T. Edwards; "Self Educa- 
tion," by J. D. Philbrick; "Physical Geography," by Prof. S. Tenney; 
" The Relations of Parents to the School." by T. W. Ricknell. 

Report on the history and conduct of the Rhode Island Schoolmaster 
during the year, by N. W. DeMunn. 

Seventy- ninth Meeting — February 12th and 13th, 1864, at Woonsocket. 

Lectures on " Familiar Topics," by J. Kendall; '-Supervision of 
School, 1 ' by Rev. B. S. Northrup; "Relation of the Scholar to the Rebel- 
lion," by J. T. Edwards; " Education and Physical Interests," by Hon. 
J. B. f.hapin. 

Discussions on "Parental Interest in Schools," "Object Teaching as a 
System," " Physical Culture," " Defects in Public Schools." 

Eightieth Meeting.— June 3d and 4th, 1864, at Harrisville. 

Lectures on "The Education of the Freedmen," by Rev. A. Root; 
"Reading." by F. B. Snow; " Primary Geography," by T. W. Bi.knell; 
" The Educational Improvements of Twenty-five Years," by I. F. Cady. 

Discussions on " The Best Means of Securing Regular Attendance at 
School by Messrs. Steere, Metcalf, and Webb; " The Evils of a Frequent 
Change of Teachers, and the Remedy," by Messrs. Cady. Bicknell. and 
Mowry; " Method of Teaching Writing in Common Schools. " by Messrs. 
Webb, Steere, and others; "Teaching Beginners in Arithmetic the Pro- 
cess Before the Reasoning, 1 ' by Messrs. Snow, and Mowry; " Requiring 
Pupils to give Information of Offenses," by Messrs. Mowry. Cady, Webb, 
Steere, and others. 



60 



HISTORY OF THE 



Eighty-first Meeting.— Phcnix, October 7th and 8th, 1864. 

The Institute held the first of its series of meetings for the season in 
this village. 

The question. " At What Age Should Children Commence; Taking 
Writing Lessons, and When Should They Begin the Study of Geography 
and Grammar?* was discussed by Hon. Henry Rousmaniere, Rev. B. 
P. Byram, Messrs Kent Seamans, and Spaulding. 

Class exercise in Spelling, conducted by Mr. J. R. Kent. 

" Ought Parents to be Compelled to send (heir Children to School?" 
discussed by Hon Henry Rousmaniere, Rev. Charles II. Titus, Rev. B. 
P. Byram. and Messrs. Seamans, and Spaulding. 

Evening session.— Mr. Harris R. Greene, Principal of the Worcester, 
Mass.. High School, delivered a lecture ''On the Moral Influence of the 
Teacher in the School Room." 

Saturday morning. — Mr. A. A. Gamwell, of Providence, presented the 
following subject, " How to Teach Pupils the Use of the English Lan- 
guage, and its History as the Work of Man;' 1 lecture, "Strike while the 
Iron is Hot," by Rev. James T. Edwards. 

Afternoon session.— The question, " What are the Most Apparent 
Hindrances to the Elevation of Public Schools? " was discussed by Hon. 
Henry Rousmaniere, Rev. J. T. Edwards, the President, and N. W. De- 
Munn. The customary vote of thanks to lecturers, and for hospitality, 
were passed. Adjourned. 

Eighty -second Meeting.— East Greenwich, October 21st and 22d, 1854. A 
large assembly met in the Seminary Chapel. Remarks, by the President, 
William A. Mowry The first subject presented was, " What are Mile 
Stones Marking Educational Progress?" discussed by Hon. Henry 
Rousmaniere, Rev. J. T. Edwards, Piofessor J. Eastman, Rev. S. A. 
Crane, D. D.. and Dr. Eldredge; second topic, " What Studies Demand 
More Attention in our Public Schools than they now Receive? 'discussed 
by the President, Rev. Messrs. Edwards, and Crane, and Commissioner 
Chapin. Singing, by a class of ladies and gentlemen under the direction 
of Professor Tourjee. 

Evening session.— The second topic of the afternoon was further dis- 
cussed. Rev. J. II. McCarty delivered a lecture upon "The Lights and 
Shadows of the School Room. Professor Tourjee, with his class, sang a 
portion of Rossini's " Stabat Mater," with line effect. 

Saturday morning.— Business. — Commissioner Chapin urged the im- 
portance of establishing on a firmer basis a State Normal School. A 
committee of one from each county was appointed to prepare a set of 
questions for discussion at the coming Institutes, and report the same at 
the next meeting. The question, •' What Considerations are Sufficient to 
Warrant a Change in Text- Books?" was discussed by Messrs. Kendall, 
Chapin, DeMunn, and Edwards. 

Afternoon session. — Questions were answered relative to "Correcting 
whispering, loud study, tardiness," etc. The claims of the Rhode Island 



BIIODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 61 

Schoolmaster were urged by Mr. DeMunn. Thirty-two subscriptions 
were obtained. The customary resolutions of thanks were passed, and 
after a son* by Professor Tourjee's music class, the Institute; adjourned. 
The members were received on the Seminary grounds by the li .Seminary 
Guards," and escorted to the depot. 

Eiyldy-third Meeting. — East Providence, November 18th and 19th, 1864. 
Hon. Joshua B. Chapin, Commissioner of Public Schouls, delivered a 
discourse on " The True Teacher," several points of which were discussed 
by President Mowry, and Rev. G. M. P King 

Evening session. — "The Importance of the Cooperation of Parents 
with Teachers, and the Best Method of Securing It," was discussed by 
Messrs. Mowry, King, and others. Rev. Leonard Swain, D. D., of 
Providence, delivered a lecture upon " Puritan Education." 

Saturday morning. — " English Grammar in Connection with Analysis," 
was presented by Mr. Francis B. Snow, and discussed by Messrs. Barney, 
Mowry, Kendall, Cady, Chapin, Gam well, and others; "Lessons from 
Nature," was a topic considered by Mr. I. F. Cady. 

Afternoon session. — The importance of parental cooperation was fur- 
ther discussed. Mr. Joshua Kendall read a paper on ''Difficulties 
Arising in the School Room." The committee appointed at the last meet- 
ing of the Institute to prepare a series of questions for discussion, re- 
ported. These questions embraced a consideration of the utility of the 
Normal School, more uniform and more thorough examinations, the 
modification required in the school laws, what will authorize establish- 
lishing a Grammar or High School in the country towns. It was also, 
announced that a meeting of School Committees, Trustees, Superintend- 
ents, and others, for mutual consultation would be held in Providence at 
the next annual meeting. After passing resolutions of thanks, the Insti- 
tute adjourned. 

Eiyhty-fourth Meeting. — twenty-first annual meeting. — Providence, 
January 27th and 28th, 1865. 

The annual meeting of the Institute was held in the vestry of the 
Richmond Street Church. 

Election of Officers. 

The meeting was opened with devotional exercises by Rev. Mr. Rich- 
ardson, pastor of the church. The President, Mr. Mowry, made an 
address of welcome to the teachers. Various committees were appointed. 
Professor J. Eastman, of the Providence Conference Seminary, gave a 
lecture upon "Duties of the Teacher to Himself.'' 

Afternoon session. — The State Commissioner, in behalf of a commit- 
tee appointed to memorialize the General Assembly for an appropriation 
to establish an " Experimental School" in " Object Teaching, 1 reported 
that they had attended to the duty assigned them, but without being able 
to effect anything in accordance with the resolution. Lecture, "English 
Composition," by Rev. S. A. Crane, D. D., of East Greenwich- Address 
on the same subject by Professor Robinson P. Dunn, of Brown Univer- 
sity. 



62 



HISTORY OF THE 



Evening session. — Mu=ic, by the "Orpheus Club." Lecture by Rev. 
E. B. Webb, of Boston; subject, "Given, a Man— How to Make the 
Most of Him " 

Saturday morning. —Mr. N. W. DeMunn reported in relation to the 
Rhode Island Schoolmaster. Lecture by E. A. Sheldon, Esq , Superin- 
tendent of Schools at Oswego, N. Y., on "Child Culture by the Methods 
of Object Teaching." 

Editors of the Rhode Island Schoolmaster for the ensuing year were 
elected. Lecture on " Ventilation," by D. B. Thayer, Esq., of Jamaica 
Plains. Mass. 

Afternoon session. — Lecture on " History," by Rev. Barnas Sears, D. 1)., 
ol Brown University. Resolutions of thanks to the several lecturers, 
the "Orpheus Club," the Richmond street society, and the several rail- 
roads for free return tickets to teachers anil other friends of education 
passing over them, were passed. Also a resolution of thanks and good 
wishes to Mr. Joshua Kendall, who had resigned the Principalship of the 
State Normal School. Adjourned. 

Eighty-fifth Meeting. — Newtown, (Portsmouth), December 22d and 23d, 
1865. 

The Institute met at Masonic Hall. It was expected that Commis- 
sioner Chapin would deliver a lecture on Thursday evening, but owing 
to a severe storm, he was unable to reach the island. In place of the 
lecture the " Eight Hour System of Labor," was discussed. 

Friday morning — " Arithmetic and the Principles of Substract.ion," 
were discussed. In the afternoon, '■ The Best Methods of Teaching 
Grammar" were discussed, by Messrs. Mowry, Baggs, Inman, and 
Bicknell. In the evening Mr. Bicknell, Principal of the Arnold Street 
Grammar School, Providence, read a lecture on "The Teacher's Com- 
pensation," President Mowry spoke of "The Relations of the School to 
the State, and the Duties of Parents, School Officers, and Friends of 
Education in Elevating the Standard of our Public Schools." 

Saturday morning.— "School Discipline,' 1 was discussed by Mes-rs. 
Morse, Thomas and Mowry. Mr. Albert J. Manchester, of Providence, 
gave a lecture upon ' The Teacher, His Works and Rewards." Mr. S. 
A. Potter, author of Potter & Hammond's seiies of writing books, ex- 
plained the principles of his system of penmanship, giving illustrations 
on the blackboard. Adjourned. 

Eighty-sixth Meeting. — Lonsdale, December 29th and 30th. 18G5. 

The Institute met in the High School room. " School Discipline" was 
discussed by Messrs. Chapin, Mowry, Lansing, and Ross. The evening 
session was held in the Sunday School room of Christ Church. A lec- 
ture on "The Sensibilities" was delivered by Rev. B. G. Northrup, of 
Saxonville. Mass. Erastus Richardson, Esq., of Woonsocket, read a racy 
poem on "The (lift of Speech." 

Saturday morning.— A lecture on "Grammar" was given by Mr. A. 
Gamwell, of Providence. The subject ot the Rhode Island Schoolmaster 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 63 

was presented, and a large number of subscriptions obtained. Resolu- 
tions of thanks were passed, and ihe Institute adjourned. 

Eighty- sixth Meeting.— TWENTY-SECOND annual meeting.— Providence, 
January 26th and 27th. 1866. 

Election of Officers. 

The Institute met in the vestry of the Central Congregational Church, 
and a hearty address of welcome was made by Rev. Leonard Swain, 
D. D. Various committees were appointed. Professor Robinson P. 
Dunn, of Brown University, delivered a lecture upon " The Study of 
English Literature." 

Afternoon session.— A lecture by Professor Samuel S. Greene, of Brown 
University, "Teaching as an Answer to the Internal Want of the Pupil." 
A lecture by Professor J. Lewis Diman, of Brown University, on " Poli- 
tical Education in Public Schools." President Sears spoke briefly in sup- 
port of the views presented in the lecture. 

Evening session. — Lecture on "The Educational Mission at the South," 
by Colonel T. W. Higginson, of Newport. 

Saturday morning.— Resolutions were introduced by Professor Dunn, 
and unanimously adopted, in grateful recognition of the important ser- 
vices to the cause of education, rendered by the late Rev. Francis Way- 
land, D. D., LL. D. S. H. Taylor, LL. D., of Phillips Academy, 
Andover, Mass., gave a colloquial lecture upon the "Topography of 
Rome." 

Afternoon session.— The Board of Editors of the Rhode Island School- 
master was elected. Professor Josiah P. Cooke, Jr., of Harvard Univer- 
sity, delivered a lecture upon "The Value of Scientific Studies as a 
Means of Discipline." The interests of the Schoolmaster were presented. 
Resolutions of congratulation and also of thanks were presented and 
adopted. Likewise resolutions of gratitude upt.n the return of peace and 
the altered condition of the country. A short closing address was made 
by President Bicknell, and the Institute adjourned. 

Eighty-seventh Meeting.— Peacedale, February 15th and 16th, 1866, after- 
noon session. 

The Institute met in Hazard's Hall, and was cordially welcomed by 
Rev. M. Williams. The subject, "Ought Parents to Visit Schools?" 
was discussed by Messrs. Bicknell, Aldrich, Tefft, Collins, and Wil- 
liams. A discussion followed on " Whispering in School," which was 
participated in by the President, and Messrs. Hazard, Williams, Rich- 
mond, Tefft, Collins, and Aldrich. 

Evening session. — Lectures were delivered on " The Legend of Rocks," 
by Mr. M. A. Aldrich, of Providence; on "School Morale," by Mr. 
Francis B. Snow, of Providence; on " Moral, Physical and Intellectual 
Culture." by Hon. Rowland G. Hazard, of Peacedale. 

Saturday morning. — "School Morale" was discussed by Messrs. De- 
Munn, and Williams. A lecture was read by Mr. F. B. Snow, on 
"Reading," and another, by Mr. N. W. DeMunn, on "Some of the Best 



64 HISTOKY OF THE 

Methods of Teaching Arithmetic. 1 ' Remarks on the same subject were 
made by Mr Hazard. Resolutions of thanks to lecturers, and also for 
hospitable entertainment, were passed. Adjourned. 

Eighty-eighth Meeting.— Newport, March 1st, 2d and 3d, 1866. 

The Institute temporarily organized on Thursday evening, and Com- 
missioner Chapin delivered a lecture on " Education, its Importance and 
Results." 

Friday morning. — An address of welcome was given by Rev. Charles 
II. Malcom, to which President Bicknell responded. Rev. Cyrus II. Fay, 
of Providence, delivered a lecture upon " Some of the Evils of our Sys- 
tem of Instruction." 

Afternoon session — Mr. S. A. Potter, of Providence, delivered an ad- 
dress on " Moral Instruction in Schools." A resolution declaring it to 
be "the duty of those in authority to shorten the daily sessions of the 
Public Schools," was, after discussion, adopted. Mr. F. B. Snow, of 
Providence, read a lecture on " Moral Instruction in Schools; How to 
Teach It, and When to Teach It." 

Evening session. — Lecture by Rev. S. Reed, of Providence, on "What 
I Saw in a Nfne Miles Walk in the Mammoth Cave." 

Saturday morning. — Discussion, " The Necessity and Means of Inter- 
esting the Pupil," participated in by Messrs. Higginson, White, Talbot, 
Ladd, and Snow. Lecture by Professor Samuel S. Greene, of Brown 
University, upon " Teaching as Satisfying an Internal Want of the Pupil," 
Mr. John J. Ladd gave a familiar talk on " School Discipline." The 
claims of the Rhode Island Schoolmaster were presented. Resolutions of 
thanks for the hospitality extended to the members of the Institute were 
passed ; also, to the several lecturers, to the railroad companies, and to 
the American Steamboat Company, for special favors received. 

Adjourned. 

Eigh ty -ninth Meeting.— Y&vrtxickel, October 10th, 11th and 12th, 1866. 

The Institute met in the lecture room of the Methodist Episcopal 
"Church. Words of welcome were spoken by Rev. Mr. Church, and re- 
plied to by the President. 

Dr. Lowell Mason gave a lecture on " The Best Methods of Teaching 
the Art of Vocal Music." Prof. F. S. Jewell, of the State Normal School, 
at Albany, N. Y., gave a class exercise in Spellin £. Dr. Chapin closed 
the'excrcises of the morning with a few pertinent remarks on the lecture. 

Wednesday afternoon.— Class exercise on " Writing," by Mr. Bowler. 
Class exercise in " Arithmetic," conducted by Mr. J. F. Claflin, Princi- 
pal of the High School in Worcester, Mass. Colloquial lecture on 
" Grammar and Analysis," by Professor Jewell. Lecture on '■ The True 
Uses of History," by President Sears of Brown University. 

Thursday morning. — Exercise on " Vocal Music," by Dr. Mason. A 
paper on "Declamation," by Mr. Claflin. Class exercise in "Geogra- 
phy," by Professor Jewell. 

Afternoon session. — Second exercise on "Writing," by Mr. Bowler. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 65 

Exercises on " Reading," and on "Fractions," by Mr. G. N. Bigelow. 
Lecture on " Geometry," by Professor S. S. Greene. 

Evening session. —Lecture on "Temperance," by Dr. Charles Jewett, 
of Worcester, Mass. • 

Friday morning. -Lecture on "The Principles' and Uses of Music," by 
Dr. Mason. Lesson in 'Notation," by Mr. Bigelow. Essay on '-Health," 
by Dr. Trine, of Providence. 

Afternoon session.— "Grammar and Analysis," by Professor Jewell. 
| 'Elocution," by Professor Mark Bailey, of Yale College. Resolutions 
in favor of a State Normal School, and of Normal Institutes, to be sus- 
tained by a State appropriation, were adopted; also the customary reso- 
lutions of thanks. 

Friday evening. — Lecture on " Normal Schools," by Professor Jewell. 
A committee on "The Normal School," consisting of two gentlemen 
from each county in the State, was appointed to act in connection with 
the committee appointed by the Board of Directors of t lie Institute. 
After a few appropriate remarks by the President, the singing of 
"America," by the audience, and a benediction, by Professor Jewell, the 
Institute adjourned. 

Ninetieth Meeting.— twenty-third annual meeting.— Providence, 
January 26th, 1867. 

Election of officers. 

The Institute convened at the school-rooms of Messrs. Mowry & Goff. 

The President, in his opening remarks, alluded to the unusual nature 
of the annual meeting for this year, and called the attention of the Insti- 
tute to the several topics to be discussed and acted upon by them. Chief 
among these subjects were the true office and proper field of action of 
the Institute, the reestablishnient of the Normal School, and the evils of 
truancy. 

On motion of Commissioner Chapin, it was 

Voted, That a committee to consist of two from each county in the 
State, and six members of the Institute, be appointed to consider the 
question of the reestablishment of the Normal School, and to memorial- 
ize the General Assembly on the subject; and that the Mayor and the 
Superintendent of Public Schools in Providence, and such other persons 
as the School Cqmmittee of said city shall be pleased to appoint, be re- 
spectfully requested to cooperate with the above committee. 

It was also voted that a committee of three be appointed to memorialize 
the General Assembly to make an appropriation of five hundred dollars 
for the purpose of maintaining two Institutes of Instruction of one week 
each in length, in different parts of the State, during each year, under 
the supervision of the School Commissioner. The same committee was 
also empowered to memorialize the General Assembly on the subject of 
"Truancy." * 

*tf he committee on re-establishing the Normal School were, Rev. John Boyden, 
Woonsocket; Hon. T. R. King, Pawtucket; Professor George W. Greene, East 



6G HISTORY OF THE 

The resident and contributing editors of the Rhode Island Schoolmaster 
were appointed lor the ensuing year, and a motion to appoint a commit- 
tee of throe •' to consider any proposition that may be made for merging 
the Schoolmaster into a New England Educational Journal, and report on 
the same to the Institute, 1 ' was, after free discussion, laid on the table. 
A motion to put forth every endeavor to increase the circulation of the 
Schoolmaster, was adopted. 

Resolutions were unanimously passed in favor of establishing a 
" National Bureau of Education " at Washington, accompanied with a 
request to the Senators in the United States Congress from Rhode Island, 
that they endeavor to secure the passage of a bill providing for such a 
Bureau. The thanks of the Institute were tendered to Messrs. Movvry & 
Gofi", for the use of their rooms. Adjourned. 

Ninety-first Meeting.— twenty-fovrth annual meeting. —Providence, 
January 24th and 25th, 1868. 

Election of Officers. 

The Institute met in the vestry of the Central Congregational Church. 
Devotional exercises and address of welcome by Rev. Mr. Vose Re- 
sponse by President Bicknell. The usual committees were appointed 
Lecture on "Educational Wants," by Thomas L. Angell, A. M., Princi- 
pal of the Lapham Institute. 

Afternoon session. — Lectures " How to Teach Children, 11 by Professor 
Samuel S. Greene, of Brown University; *' Elocution, 11 by Colonel II. B. 
Sprague, of the Connecticut State Normal School; "Symmetrical Cul- 
ture, 11 by Rev. James T. Edwards, East Greenwich. 

Evening session. — Lecture by Colonel II. B. Sprague, on " Milton as a 
Teacher. 11 A large and gratified audience was in attendance. 

Saturday morning. — Address on "The Educational System of Great 
Britain, 11 by Hon. Neal Dow, of Portland, Maine. Lectures, " On the 
Metrical System, 11 by Professor J. H. Appleton, of Brown University; 
" Relations of the Teacher and Pupil," by J. II. Tenney, Esq., of Newton 
Centre, Mass. Exercise in " Geography, 1 ' by Mrs. Mary R. C. Smith, of 
Oswego, N. Y. The resident and monthly editors of the Schoolmaster 
were appointed. Resolutions in favor of more frequent meetings of the 
Institute in different parts of the State; in commendation of the School- 
master ; in appreciation of the services of the retiring President; in 
favor of reestablishing the Normal School; and of thanks to lecturers, 
ami for various courtesies, were passed. The following resolution was 
also unanimously adopted : 

Greenwich; Hon. B. Lapham, Warwick ; Hon. Elisha It. Potter, Kington; Hon. 
K. <;. Hazard. Peace Dale;; W. A. White, Esq., and B. II. Rhodes, Esq., of Newport; 
[lev. Thomas Sheparcl, 1). D., Bristol; Mr. Isaac F. Cady, Warren. 

Committee on Hie Institute and on Truancy, Thomas W. Bicknell, Barrington; 
Rev. Barnas Sears, 1). I)., John Kingsbury, LL. I)., and Sarmiel Austin. Providence; 
William A. Mowry, Cranston; Rev. James T. Edwards, East Greenwich. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. G7 

Resolved, That in the death oi Rev. Robinson P. Dunn, I). T)., Profes- 
sor of Rhetoric and English Literature in Brown I, University, the Insti- 
tute sincerely mourns the loss of a member whose Christina character, 
ripe scholarship, and earnest interest in the cause of popular education, 
greatly endeared him to a wide'eirele of friends. 

Adjourned. 

Ninety-second Meeting.— Wakefield, February 28th and 29th. 1808. 

Discussion, " The Teacher's Daily Preparation for the Duties of the 
School-room;" participated in by Rev. Mr. Wheeler, and Messrs. De- 
Mnnn, Aldrich, and others. 

Evening session. — Lecture by Rev. James T. Edwards, of East Green- 
wich Seminary, on " The Use and Abuse of Illustrations." 

Saturday morning. — "The Proper Method of Teaching Geography," 
by President DeMunn. The "Study of Grammar," by Mr. M. A. Al- 
drich. "Arithmetic, with Special Reference to Square Root," by the 
President. Hon. Elisha R. Potter, described the working of the system 
of common schools in the State. The " rate bill system " was operating 
injuriously on many districts. Resolutions in favor of local meetings of 
the Institute, and in behalf of the Schoolmaster, were adopted. Also the 
usual vote of thanks. Adjourned. 

Ninety-third Meeting.— twenty-fifth annual meeting.— January 
29th and 30th, 1869, at Providence. 

Election of Officers- 

This session of the Institute was held in connection with one of the 
series of meetings conducted by the School Commissioner. A commit- 
tee was appointed to confer with the committee on education in the Gen- 
eral Assembly, in reference to a Normal Srhool. A committee on the 
Rhode Island Schoolmaster was appointed with power to act. 

Adjourned. 

Ninety-fourth Meeting. — twenty-sixth annual meeting.— Provi- 
dence, January 29th and 30th, 18T0. 

Election of Officers. 

The Institute met in Roger Williams Hall. Devotional exercises con- 
ducted at the opening by Rev. Thomas Laurie, D. D. Address of wel- 
come to teachers by Rev. Augustus Woodbury, and responded to by 
President Edwards. Lecture by Professor James Johonnot, of Oswego, 
N. Y., on "The Philosophy of Teaching." Address, by Rev. B. G. 
Northrup, Secretary oi Connecticut Board of Education, upon "The 
Laws of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, in Relation to 
Employing ( hildren in Manufacturing Establishments." 

Afternoon session. — The hall was filled to its utmost capacity. Various 
committees were announced. "Teaching History," an exercise con- 
ducted by Mr. Albert J. Manchester, Principal of the Thayer Street 
Grammar School assisted by a class of his pupils. Recitation, " The 
Black Regiment," by Master Willie Weeden, of the same school. Sing- 
ing by two hundred pupils from the Grammar schools of Providence, 



68 HISTORY OF THE 

under the direction of Mr. Henry Carter. Readings, by Miss LeRow, of 
Boston. A paper on "Teaching Primary Geography, by Means of 
Object Lessons," read by Mrs. Rebecca Jones, of Worcester, Mass., and 
illustrated with a class of children. Address, by Rev. B. G. Northrup. 

Evening session. — The hall was crowded, and hundreds were unable to 
gain admission. Music, by the ''Choral Union, 11 of Pawtucket, and the 
choir of the First Baptist Church in Providence, under the direction of 
Mr. George W. Haselwood. assisted by Mr. C. W r . Bradley. Address of 
welcome by His Excellency Governor Setli Padelford, who closed with 
the following words: 

"I welcome you, ladies and gentlemen, to this city, to this hall, and to 
the hospitalities of the occasion. I hope that all your deliberations and 
discussions will prove conducive to the objects in view, and that by ele- 
vating the standard of education, and exciting a new interest for its dif- 
fusion, a fresh impulse will be given to the cause throughout the State. 
In this series of meetings you have my best wishes for their success, and 
I trust that the occasion will leave many pleasant reminiscences. 11 * 

Hon. George L. Clarke, Mayor of Providence, addressed the meeting 
with words of greeting. This overflowing audience, he said, he regarded 
as a good omen for the cause of education in this State. It is too late to 
ask whether our school system should be abandoned. Its benefits are 
settled beyond question. The questions now to be asked are, how can 
the system be improved? how can we reap greater success? how can the 
money appropriated secure its best results? The school system of Provi- 
dence he regarded as not excelled in the United States, and perhaps not 
in the world. But it is not perfect while one child is allowed to grow up 
in ignorance— that parent of vice and crime. Alluding to Massachusetts, 
he said that Rhode Island cannot expect to hold her rank unless she 
spends more money and time in the development of her brain power. 
Rhode Island needs a Board of Education and a good Normal School, or 
she will be outstripped by every New England State, if not every State. 

Spirited addresses were also made by President Edwards. Rev. Augus- 
tus Woodbury, Hon. B. G. Northrup. Henry Howard, Esq., and General 
Charles C. Van Zandt. 

Saturday morning. — A resolution recommending the Rhode Island 
School) > Ulster " to the continued patronage and support of teachers and 
the friends of education at home and abroad, 11 was adopted. Lecture, 
by Professor Johonnot, "On Subjective and Objective Teaching. 11 Ad- 
dress by Hon. John Kingsbury. Lecture on '■ Reading, 11 with illustra- 

* Ex-Governor Padelford, as a member of the Common Council in Providence, 
from is.!7((i L841, and from 1851 to 1852, as also for fifteen years a member of the 
sehool committee, has rendered important services to the public schools. He 
actively co-operated with others in securing a High school for the city of Provi- 
dence, arid while Governor, bestowed upon the Normal School, ami the schools of 
the State, very faithful attention. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 69 

tions, by Professor Lewis B. Munroe, of Boston. Singing, by two hun- 
dred pupils from the lower rooms of the Grammar schools of Providence, 
under the direction of Mrs. Mary E. Rawson. 

Afternoon session. — Lecture " On the Principles of Teaching Geogra- 
phy, particularly in the department of Map Drawing," by Mr. .1 M. 
Sawin, Principal of the Elm Street Grammar School, Providence, assisted 
by a class of his pupils. 

Resolutions in favor of a Board of Education, and a Normal School. 
and of thanks to all who had in any way contributed to the prolit or 
pleasure of the occasion, were passed. Readings, by Professor Munroe. 
After brief closing remarks by the President, followed by singing the 
Doxology, "Praise God," and a benediction by Rev. J. C. Stockbridge, 
D. D., the Institute adjourned. 

Ninety-fifth Meeting.— September 22d, 23d, and 24th, 1870, at North 
Scituate. 

Address of welcome, by Rev. O. H. True. Lecture on "Absenteeism 
From Our Schools," by Professor George W. Ricker. The subject was 
discussed by the Commissioner of Public Schools, and Messrs. True, 
Cole, Ellis, Saunders, and Fisher. Address on "The Prussian System of 
Education," by Rev. J. C. Stockbridge, D. D. A memorial to the Gen- 
eral Assembly relating to a Normal School, was read by Dr. Fisher, and 
received a large number of signatures. The subject ol "Ventilation," 
was presented by Rev. Daniel Leach, of Providence, and discussed by 
Dr. Fisher, and Prof. Ricker. Mr. Leach also presented the subject of 
"Spelling," in an intei - esting and instructive manner. Brief address 
by Governor Padelford. Reading from "The Trial of Pickwick," by 
Mr. F. G. Morley. Class exercise in " Arithmetic," by Mr. Albert J. 
Manchester. The claims of the Rhode Island Schoolmaster were pre- 
sented. An exercise in " Reading" was given by Mr. F. B. Snow. 

On the evening of the first day a popular meeting was held, and ad- 
dresses were made by Governor Padelford, Rev. Daniel Leach, Albeit J. 
Manchester, Commissioner Bicknell, Rev. O. H. True, Dr. C. H. Fisher, 
and Prof. G. II. Ricker. Adjourned. 

Ninety-sixth Meeting. — December 15th and 16th, 1870, at Warren. 

Address of welcome, by Rev. L. C. Manchester. Remarks, by Prof. F. 
S. Jewell, and Hon. Henry Barnard. Lecture "On English Grammar," 
by Mr Samuel Thurber, of Hyde Park, Mass. " Importance of Educa- 
tion," by J. W. Stillman. An exercise in " Spelling," with a class, con- 
ducted l.y Mrs. Smith, of the Meeting Street Colored School, Providence. 
An exercise in "English Grammar," by F. G. Morley. An Essay by Mr. 
Peck, of the Warren High School. Readings, by A. P. Mowry. An ex- 
ercise in Arithmetic, by Mr. A.J. Manchester. Addresses and discussions 
by Prof. Jewell, Hon. Henry Barnard, General G- L. Cooke, and others. 

Nincty-sevc?ilh3{celing.--T'\YEKTY-SEYV.'STU annual meeting —January 
26th, 27th and 28th, 1871, at Providence. 
Election of officers. 



70 HISTORY OF THE 

The first day was devoted by members of the Institute to visiting the 
city schools for the purpose of witnessing the methods of study, instruc- 
tion and recitation. In the evening the Institute met in Roger Williams 
Hall, and listened to an address by Professor J. Lewis Diman, of Brown 
University, on " Poetry in Education." Professor Hibbard, of Wesleyan 
University, also gave select readings. 

Friday morning. — An address of welcome was given by Hon. Thomas 
A. Doyle. Mayor of Providence. The exercises of the day were "Disci- 
pline," by U. II. Kile, A. M., of Westerly; Singing, by pupils of the 
Thayer street Grammar School, under the direction of Mr. B. W. Hood ; 
Lecture, by Professor George I. Chace, of Brown University; Select 
Readings, by Prof. JVI. 1). Brown, of Tufft's College; " Elements of Suc- 
cess and Causes of Failure in Teaching," by Mr. F. W. Tilton, of New- 
port. Remarks, by Hon. Joseph White, Secretary of Massachusetts 
Board of Education; "Gymnastic Drill," by pupils of the Thayer Street 
Grammar School. 

In the evening the meeting was held in Harrington's Opera House. 
Addresses by President Manchester, Hon. Thomas A. Doyle, Hon. 
Joseph White, of Boston, and Hon. Warren Johnson, of Maine. Read- 
ings were given by Mrs. Miller, and Professor Brown. Music, under the 
direction of Mr. Hood. 

Saturday, at Roger Williams Hall. — Address on " Reading," by Pro- 
fessor Brown. "The Significance of Geographical Names," by Hon. 
Joseph White. Remarks were made by Messrs. Leach, Johnson, White, 
Perry, Tewksbury, and Waterman. A resolution to petition the General 
Assembly to aid in elevating the standard of education in the State, by 
establishing a Normal and Training School, was unanimously adopted. 
A committee on the Rhode Island Schoolmaster was appointed; also, a 
committee on the " State Teachers 1 Annual Excursion;" also, a commit- 
tee to prepare a "Manual of the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction." 
Tin; customary resolutions of thanks were passed. The several sessions 
of this Institute meeting were conducted with great spirit. The attend- 
ance was large, showing unabated interest to the close. 

Ninety eighth Meeting. — twenty-eighth annual meeting. — January 
18th, 10th and 20th, 1872, at Providence. 

Election of Officers. 

The first dav (Thursday) was devoted to visiting the schools of the 
city and the Normal School. In the evening a re-union of teachers was 
held in Roger Williams Hall, at which music was given by the Brown 
University Glee Club, and readings by Mrs. II. M. Miller. 

Friday, at Roger Williams Hall. — A paper on "Practical Education," 
by A. D. Small, of Newport; Essay, by Mr. I). W. Hoyt, of the Provi- 
dence High School; Music, by the pupils of the public schools in Provi- 
dence, under the direction of Mr. B. W. Hood; Reading, by pupils from 
the State Normal School; Essay, by J. C. Greenough, Principal of the 
Normal School. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 71 

In the evening, at Music Hall. — Addresses, by Governor Padelford, 
Hon. Mayor Doyle, Hon. T. W. Bicknell, Rev. Daniel Leach, Rev. Alexis 
Caswell, D I)., and Hon W. P. Sheffield. Readings, by Professor L. B. 
Monroe. Music, by pupils of the city public schools, and on the organ* 
by Mr. F. F. Tingley. 

Saturday morning, at Roger Williams Hall. — An annual tax of one dol- 
lar for gentlemen and fifty cents for ladies was voted'. An exercise in 
Elocution was given by Professor Monroe, with the pupils of the Normal 
School. Messrs. Lyon, Bicknell, Hoyt, Greenough, and Smalja were 
chosen a committee to publish the proceedings of this session of the In- 
stitute. A committee on the Rhode Island Schoolmaster w as appointed. 
The death of Mr. Albert A. Gamwell was announced, and the following 
resolution unanimously adopted by a rising vote: 

Resolved, That in the death of Mr. A. A. Gamwell, a Vice President of 
this Institute, and one of its earliest members, and for nearly twenty-five 
years a teacher in the city of Providence, this Institute and the cause of 
education have sustained a heavy loss, and we desire hereby to express 
our appreciation of his worth as a man, and a faithful and devoted 
teacher.* 

Increasing Interest. 

It would be impossible, except by swelling this volume to 
a size not contemplated by the Institute when authorizing its 
publication, to give in the preceding synopsis of meetings 
the numerous details which would be alike interesting and 
instructive. A summary of the essential portions of the 
many lectures and addresses delivered by eminent educators, 
would have been an invaluable contribution to educational 
literature, and the practical ideas contained in them would 
have been found important aids in the school-room. A ref- 
erence, however, to the various topics discussed, cannot fail 

*Mr. Gamwell was born in Peru, Massachusetts, October 29th, 1816. He was edu- 
cated at Brown University, and graduated in September, 1847. He immediately 
afterwards accepted an appointment as Principal of the Fountain Street Gram 
mar School in Providence, subsequently transferred to the new building on Fed- 
eral Street, a position he occupied with distinguished success until his labors 
were terminated by fatal disease. He died December 18th, 1871, in the peacefu 
trust inspired by the christian faith his life had so consistently illustrated. He 
left a wife and four children to mourn an event which awakened the sorrow of 
a wide circle of friends. A fine portrait of Mr. Gamwell hangs in the Hall of the 
Federal Street Grammar school house. 



72 HISTORY OF THE 

to suggest to teachers trains of thought helpful in the dis- 
charge of their responsible and often perplexing duties. The 
questions upon which these lectures and addresses weie 
based, will, for the most part, suggest the desired answers, 
and a careful perusal of this synopsis of Institute work, will, 
in this particular, be found highly advantageous. 

'It is especially interesting to trace through the years 
covered by the brief history thus far presented, the influence 
of the annual and subsidiary meetings of the Institute in 
multiplying friends to the cause of popular education, and in 
strengthening its hold upon the public mind. This is made 
evident by the increased attendance upon its meetings, as 
well as by the high character of the citizens who extended to 
them their cordial support. This has been a more distinctly 
marked feature within the last fourteen years. Up to that 
time, with few exceptions, and those were evenings when a 
popular speaker from abroad addressed the Institute, the 
vestry of a church had furnished all needed accommodations. 
But year by year the circle of interest widened until in 1870 
it became necessary to transfer the annual meetings to Roger 
Williams Hall, capable of seating sixteen hundred people. A 
single year demonstrated that even this Hall was of too lim- 
ited dimensions, and in 1872, for this reason, the evening 
exercises were held in Music Hall, the largest audience room 
in Providence, if not in the State. The annual meetings of 
1873 and 1874, held in this latter hall, were pre-eminently 
distinguished for numbers and enthusiasm. Such gatherings 
of teachers and the friends of education were never before 
seen in Rhode Island, if indeed, in any part of the United 
States. At the evening sessions, each year, not less than 
three thousand persons were present. 

The ninety -ninth meeting of the Institute, being the 
twenty-ninth annual meeting, was held as above stated, 
January 9th, 10th and 11th, 1873. 

Election of Officers. 

The forenoon of Thursday (Oth) was devoted by members 
to visiting the State Normal School and the Providence 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. id 

High School. In the afternoon, from two to four (/clock, the 
Grammar, Intermediate, and Primary schools of the city were 
visited, to witness the usual exercises in each. 

At 2 o'clock, p. M.,a session of the Department of Higher 
Instruction was held in the Providence High School. The 
object of this session was stated by the President, (Mr. 
Lyon,) to be "to secure to the teachers of the higher schools 
the same advantages that the teachers of other schools had at 
the annual meetings of the Institute.* The following papers 
were then read : " Methods of Teaching the Classics," by 
Professor Albert Harkness, of Brown University; "The Im- 
portance* of Mathematical Studies to Literary Pursuits," by 
Professor Benjamin F. Clarke, of Brown University. The 
reading of these papers was followed by animated and in- 
structive discussions, which were participated in by Charles 
B. Goff, Edward H. Cutler, O. H. Kile, N. VV. Littlefield, 
David W. Hoyt, William A. Mowry, Thomas B. Stock well, 
and Edwin M. Stone. In the evening a large audience as- 
sembled at Music Hall, when an able address on "The Cri- 
terion of Education," was delivered by Hon. E. E White, of 
Columbus, Ohio. 

Friday morning, an address of welcome was delivered by 
Rev. Henry W. Rugg, of the Providence School Committee, 
and responded to in appropriate words by President Lyon. 
Professor Samuel S. Greene, of Brown University, read a 
paper on " Thought and Expression : " 

Thought was placed first, because it was really first in time and im- 
portance; expression second in time and the necessary instrument by 
which thought is made known. Thought is to be gained by direct effort, 
expression by indirect, which united gives us language. Every person 
in common life needs to know how to speak and write his own language 
with correctness and some degree of elegance. Ilowean our children be 
taught to do this in our common schools? Not by the study of text- 

*The school visitations commenced in 1871, and meetings of the " Department 
of Higher Instruction," begun in l^T.i, were new features in the arrangements for 
the annual meetings of the Institute. In 1*74 a Grammar and Primary school 
section was added. 

10 



74 HISTORY OF THE 

books in the science of Grammar alone or chiefly, but by such training as 
shall stimulate thought ami lead to its expression, care being taken to 
give thought its legitimate place, that of supremacy over expre>.-i. n. A 
child should not be led to think by unwise criticisms of the style of his 
penmanship, grammar, spelling, etc , that the expression is first in im- 
portance. Tell a child to go and examine or witness something within 
his comprehension, and then let him tell it his own way. and give him 
the impression that his thought is of the most importance. Children 
should be taught to think and read for a definite object, and when t'. - • 
accomplished tike expression will be acquired. Do not demand of a 
child an original composition, without preparing his mind by leading him 
into the r . _ht. All school exercises should be made a means of 

teaching correct expression of earnest thought. 

This paper elicited an instructive dis ss .participated 
in by Pi -- Jos E stman, Rev. Daniel Leach. Super- 
intendent of Providence Public Schools, Professor Greene, 
Hon. E. E. White, Commissioner Thomas W. Bicknell, and 
Rev. Edwin M. Stone. A pleasant exercise in " Gymnast: - 
was given by a class of pupils from the Thayer Street Gram- 
mar School, under the direction ot 31 - _ tret L. Phillips. 
The accuracy and gracefulness of the drill, excited the admi- 
ration of the audience. 

The afternoon exercises were opened with singing by live 
hundred pupils belonging to the several Grammar Schools of 
the city, under the direction of Mr. B. W. Hood. The 
pieces, five in number, were finely rendered, showing careful 
training on the part of the teacher. Pupils from the State 
Normal 3 _ tve exercises in Reading, conducted by Pro- 

jsor L. B. Monroe. These exercises were well sustained 
throughout, and save srreat satisfaction. Pi -- - 1 ". Lewis 
Diman delivered a scholarly and instructive address on "The 
Teacher's Culture." II mi. E. E. White spoke in approval of 
the sentiments advanced, and Rev. Mr. Ela, of East Green- 
wich, presented briefly, "The Means by which Real Culture 
may be Obtained." Professor Monroe read the "Pied Piper 
of Hamlin." 

In the evening the hall was crowded to overflowing. Ad- 
dresses were made by Governor 8 I lelfordj Hon. Thos. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 75 

A. Doyle, Mayor of Providence, Hon. John Kingsbury, Rev. 
Dr. Robinson, President of Brown University, Hon. E. E. 
White, Hon. Henry Barnard, and Hon. Thomas W. Bick- 
nell. Professor Monroe rend three poems, which were re- 
ceived with great applause. The excellent music for the 
evening- was furnished by about one hundred and fifty female 
High School pupils, under the direction of Mr. B. W. Hood, 
Mr. Frank F. Tingley presiding at the organ. 

Saturday forenoon the meeting was mainly devoted to 
business. Besides the election of officers and the customary 
votes of thanks, resolutions were passed recommending a 
modification of the district system of this State, approving 
State representation by one or more Commissioners at the 
International Industrial Exposition to be held in Vienna, 
Austria, in the summer and autumn of 1873, and recognizing 
elementary Natural History "as a necessary fundamental de- 
partment of public instruction." The following resolutions 
are among the number presented and adopted : 

Resolved, That no system of education can be considered complete 
which does not provide for girls the same educational advantages boys 
now enjoy, and that, in the opinion of the members of this Institute, the 
cause of education will be advanced in this State when its daughters can 
obtain within its borders the highest education. 

Resolved, That we have learned with profound regret of the decease of 
Professor C. M. Alvord, of East Greenwich Seminary, whose long and 
faithful service, and distinguished success in the work of a teacher, have 
commanded the admiration of hisfellovv-teachers, as his pure and noble 
christian character has secured the respect and love of all who have been 
permitted to tcnow his worth.* 

The Committee on the Institute Manual reported that the 
work would be in readiness for the press in the course of a 
few weeks. 

The committee to whom was referred the subject of the 
Iihode Island Schoolmaster, reported, and recommended 

♦Professor Caleb M. Alvord, was born in East Hampton, Mass., May 3d. 1815", and 
died at East Greenwich, R. I., January 6th, 1ST.!, aged fifty-eight years. 



76 HISTORY OF THE 

"that the journal be continued as heretofore under the edi- 
torial direction of the School Commissioner, and the business 
management of Mr. T. B. Stockwcll," with a Board of twelve 
contributing editors. The recommendation was adopted. 

Adjourned. 

The several sessions of the Institute, from the commence- 
ment to the close, were of an elevated character, and of un- 
usual interest. The addresses, lectures and papers, opened 
fresh and valuable truths to the minds of all present, and to 
the inspiration of great ideas was added the inspiration of 
the crowd that daily thronged the hall. 

The one hundredth meeting of the Institute, being also the 
thirtieth annual meeting, opened in Providence, January 
22d, 1874, and continued until noon of the 24th. The fore- 
noon of the first day (Thursday) was, as in the three pre- 
ceding years, devoted to visiting the schools of the city, 
together with the State Normal School. In the afternoon 
two meetings of teachers and others were held in the High 
School Building, viz. : "The Department of Higher Instruc- 
tion," and "The Grammar and Primary School Section." 
The former was presided over by Professor Joseph Eastman, 
of the Conference Seminary at East Greenwich, and the lat- 
ter by Mr. L. W. Russell, Principal of the Briclgham School 
in Providence. Both meetings were largely attended by the 
most prominent educators of the city and the State. The 
latter was crowded to excess. The Department of Higher 
Instruction commenced its session with a paper by Mr. David 
W. Hoyt, Principal of the English and Scientific Department 
for boys in the Providence High School, on "The Relation of 
the Teacher to Modern Progress in Physical Science." The 
following is an abstract : 



The teacher is the interpreter who stands between the original inves- 
tigator and tlie people. All acknowledge the power of the press as an 
educator. Popular lectures by masters in science afford entertainment 
and awaken interest; but the next generation of men and women will 
owe most of its permanent ideas in science to the teachers and the text- 
books of to-day. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 77 

It is the duty of the teacher to keep himself informed of the recent pro- 
gress made in science. One who has ceased to learn should cease to 
teach. The progress of science furnishes the mental food needed to tit 
one for his duties, even though he may not directly teach that which he 
learns; but his knowledge of recent discoveries should lie more minute 
and extensive, in proportion as they bear more directly upon the branches 
he is called to teach. 

There is a broad distinction between what the teacher ought to know, 
and what he ought to teach. Two evils, of an opposite character, beset 
his'calling: — 

1. Teaching the old, simply because it is old, and the teacher thor- 
oughly understands it; and neglecting to teach the new, simply because 
it is new. and the teacher is too old or too lazy to learn it himself. We 
often m isjudge of the relative value or difficulty of the old and the new 
methods. The old is so thoroughly a part of ourselves that we fail to 
realize that both are equally unknown to our pupils. 

2. Teaching the new, simply because it is new, and neglecting to 
teach what is comparatively old, simply because it is old. While the 
fossil teacher may be guilty of the error first mentioned, the progressive 
teacher is liable to commit this one. The temptation is two-fold. First, 
it is easy to teach with interest and enthusiasm what one has justlearned. 
The success of young teachers is often due to this fact. We are all 
young in our recent acquirements, and it is well that it is so; we only 
plead that we should use our judgment as well as our personal enthusiasm 
in determining what to teach. The second temptation is furnished by 
public examinations. Committees and the public may be interested in 
what is novel, though old but important subjects are neglected. 

The present importance of a subject is one point to be considered in 
determining whether it should be taught. The multitude of wrecked 
theories, and even practical chemical processes, which lie along the 
stream of time, are now of little importance, except as items of history. 

The amount of time at the disposal of the teacher is, in most cases, 
unfortunately, the most important practical point to be considered. Let 
us, however, suppose, for the moment, that the selection of topics is to be 
made upon other grounds. We pass, then, to consider our principal prop- 
osition. 

New discoveries and theories should not be introduced into a course of 
academic instruction till they are firmly established- Even the pioneers 
of thought and discovery must admit this. The text-book and the teacher 
are not only the interpreters, but the great conservative power. 

It may be asked, why should the teacher study these, if he is not ex- 
pected to teach them ? The reasons which pertain to his own mental 
growth and character have already been given. The pupil has enough 
to occupy his mind in what is firmly established. The teacher should b9 
able to exercise the judicial spirit, neither believing nor disbelieving till 
he has sufficient reason therefor. The average pupil is incapable of such 
a state of mind; he blindly believes. These new discoveries and theo- 



78 HISTORY OF THE 

rics may soon become so fully established that the teacher will be ex- 
pected to include them in his course of instruction; and even if he does 
not teach them directly, they may modify his teaching. Again, there are 
students whom the " average pupil " does not represent. A few will seek 
from the teacher information in regard to the questions of the day. 

The remainder of the paper consisted of a practical appli- 
cation of the principle above enunciated, naming some sub- 
jects which, in the judgment of the author, may be taught, 
and others which are not yet so well understood as to be pro- 
perly included in a course of academical training. It continues : 

The revelations made by spectrum analysis are wonderful, enabling, 
as it does, the celestial chemist to analyze the heavenly bodies. But how 
much of the application of spectrum analysis to the heavenly bodies 
should we be justified in teaching at present? Perhaps little more than 
this : The bright lines of a spectrum indicate the character of the gases 
from which the light comes, and the dark lines the nature of the gases 
through which it conies. 

The spectroscope has revealed enough to overturn some of the old 
theories respecting the physical constitution of the sun ; but we know 
little more about it than this: The sun is surrounded by an immense 
gaseous atmosphere, containing sundry elements, some of which are 
found, also, on the earth. 

The greatest changes of the last few years have been in the theories 
adopted. New facts have been added to the common stock, but the old 
ones cannot be thrown aside, like old theories. One department is of too 
much importance to be passed over in silence. It includes what is spoken 
of as " conversion of energy," " conservation of force," or the " correla- 
tion of forces," — not only the theories of what were once called the im- 
ponderable agents, such as heat, light, and electricity, but also, in a 
wider sense, those of gravity, cohesion, and chemical affinity,— in fact, 
the unity of force and of natural phenomena, and perchance, of matter 
itself. Not many years since the tendency of the times was to multiply 
chemical elements and forces in physical science, as well as species in 
natural history. Now men are not only striving to prove a common 
origin for species, but some are seeking to trace all physical forces to a 
common source, and all kinds of matter to the same original substance. 

Teachers should accept it as a fact that a thermal unit is equivalent to 
seven hundred and seventy-two foot-pounds; that is, the force which 
would raise a given weight of water one degree Fahrenheit, would lift 
the same weight seven hundred and seventy-two feet. We teach that 
light and heat consist in vibrations of atoms or molecules; that light is 
transmitted to us from the sun by the vibrations of the ether. Probably 
electricity should also be regarded as a mode of atomic or molecular mo- 



KIIODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 79 

tion ; but just how the motion differs from that of light and heat we cannot 
say. Electricity is evidently convertible into heat, light, and mechanical 
force; but the duty of teachers is plainly to await future developments 
on this subject. So far as gravity, cohesion, and chemical affinity are 
concerned, we have no theory to teach. Why matter thus attracts other 
matter we cannot tell, even though Saigey and others attempt to account 
for these forces by the vibration and rotition of molecules of matter 
carrying with them atmospheres of ethereal atoms. 

The unity of force leads naturally to the unity of matter. Some evo- 
lutionists would make the ether the oiiginal of all matter; others would 
make the original atoms of two kinds, ethereal and corporeal, with, per- 
haps, hydrogen as the original of the corporeal ; others still, would rec- 
ognize some or all the chemical elements as originally distinct forms of 
corporeal matter. As teachers, we propose still to treat the chemical 
elements as distinct, even though we are forced to resort to allotropism 
and isomerism. 

The subject presented in this paper was learnedly discussed 
by Mr. Isaac F. Cady, of Bamngton, and Professors S. S. 
Greene and B. F. Clarke, of Brown University. After a 
brief recess, Professor J. L. Lincoln, of Brown University, 
read a thoughtful and discriminating paper on M Preparatory. 
Classical Studies/' in which he considered their value and the 
spirit and method of pursuing them. He would not place 
classical studies in antagonism to the physical sciences. 
Physical science generally addresses the understanding. If. 
is the office of literature to reach the soul, and thus the Iliad 
of Homer supplies a felt want. 

The study of lar guage cultivates fixed and concentrated attention. 
The ancient languages are more perfect and regular than the modern, 
but have a family relation to all the modern tongues, and are not dead. 
Latin still lives in the French, Spanish, English and Italian languages. 
Greek and Latin still speak with ever-living voices. The study of these 
languages is a means to an end We are to seek culture from their lit- 
eratures. In their thoughts and subjects they inspire us to spiritual 
worth. They teach precepts of truth. They are still unapproached in 
literary excellence. Hence you have a sufficient argument for the value 
of classical studies in a liberal education. 

The pupil should have a clear and sure aim of what he is to do and be. 
The languages should be learned and acquired; made a lasting posses- 
sion of the mind We all need to try more and more to achieve the posi- 
tive results of better learning by the use of the existing good methods of 



80 HISTORY OF THE 

study. These languages should be mastered for our use. This can be 
done " Possunt quia posse viccntur," I mean by mastering just what we 
mean by mastering a modern language which we purpose to use in read- 
ing and speaking. We should put Professor Darkness' excellent works 
to practical use in constantly interchanging Latin and English in all their 
forms, and by question and answer. No form or word but should be 
coined into living speech. The book should only be given up when the 
scholar has it all in his mind. With what facility might you then read a 
Latin author. Not only should book-words be used, but there should be 
something like conversation between teacher and scholar. The names 
of common objects and acts should be used in daily intercourse. You 
would not lose but gain time by it, making the school a Indus as in 
olden time. All this might be done without any letting down of gram- 
matical strictness, but the pupil would come back with greater appetite 
for knowledge. The lesson should be read back from the translation into 
the original, and every new word made so familiar that it need not be 
learned again. Thus there would be a real progress in knowledge, and 
the end of classical study be obtained. 

There are higher aims in the study of language; first, the teacher will 
strive to bring into his work a taste for literary beauty. It is a pleasure 
to so instruct the scholar, and to urge him to this study which has done 
so much for others. We should not regard language as mere material 
for grammatical analysis. We may begin the study too early, before we 
are able to appreciate their beauties and diction . Our pupils should know 
and feel these beauties, which they should study, not as tasks to be 
learned, but as noblest diversions for future days. They should be con- 
versant with the authors and know their excellences. The work of 
translation should be made a means of discipline to the student in his 
own vernacular. 

Again, the life of the people among whom Greek and Roman letters 
grew up should be a subject of study. Greek and Latin each contributed 
to the Christian religion, and here is a. fruitful theme which should be of 
interest to the student in the early part of his study. What were their 
manners and customs, their relation to the races of modern times are 
subjects of a life-work which should be early begun. Virgil should 
be studied as a national poet, Cicero as an exponent of Roman political 
life. I am glad we have schools which do so good work, which have 
given so many good scholars to our University. I trust they will do yet 
better service. In reading not long since of the schools of England, 1 
received some idea of the power of these schools in enlightening the 
nation, and I would say to our teachers, it is a worthy ambition to sus- 
tain the reputation of our schools. See to it that you adorn the Sparta 
of your dwelling-place. Devote the power it shall give you to virtue, 
truth and religion. 

This paper was discussed by Mr. F. W. Tilton, Principal 



KHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 81 

of the High School in Newport, and Mr. Alonzo Williams, of 
the Friends School, Providence. 

The Grammar and Primary Section was first addressed by 
the chairman, on some methods and mistakes in Heading. 

Mr. J. C. Greenough, Principal of the State Normal 
School, then read a paper on the management of reading with 
young pupils. 

He placed considerable stress upon the union of the powers or sounds 
of the letters forming the earliest words learned by the child; also, that 
the word should not be presented till the thing it symbolizes was known 
to the child, or the idea to be convoyed comprehended. He thought 
much was lost to the child by a want of freshness in the matter presented 
for reading lessons. He hoped to see the day when, to obviate this, 
printed sheets would be furnished monthly, by some competent commit- 
tee chosen for the purpose, to be distributed among the schools of a State 
or community, these sheets to contain appropriate matter for different 
grades of schools, exciting curiosity in the children, by the continued 
newness, and affording the opportunity of keeping the children interested 
in current topics, in history, politics, discoveries, &c, which they could 
comprehend. 

He thought the reading book a very important one. Around it clus- 
tered much in after years of school-life. The influence of the pieces and 
of tlie teacher's work when teaching them was very great. 

He closed the paper by some eloquent allusions to the doors which may 
be opened to the pupils through the reading lessons to the gems of our 
great authors, forming and molding the tastes of the pupils for their 
works. 

Two papers followed; one by Miss Mary A. Riley, of 
Westerly, on teaching "Elementary Geography," and the 
other by Miss Susan C. Bancroft, assistant teacher in the 
Normal School, on "Early Steps in Language." 

Miss Riley regarded the teaching of position as of first importance. It 
should be done before the name Geography is uttered in the class, and by 
locating different objects in the school room, and speaking of their posi- 
tions, absolute and as related to each oth^r. Then the streets of the 
town, and houses, etc., located upon them might be taken up till the 
necessity of a map was felt. Then map drawing might be begun, rude 
at first, but to be perfected in the higher grades. 

Miss Bancroft advocated the teaching of language in all the school les- 
sons from the earliest period of school going, long before what is termed 
20 



82 HISTORY OF THE 

composition-writing begins. The pupils should be taught to tell about 
the things they see and handle. Here is where they get their first lessons 
in language. She impressed upon the audience the great importance of 
the teacher's using correct language in all the lessons and conversations 
and aiding the pupils to do the same. People often come to serious mis- 
understanding and legal contests even by a misconception of words. 
The legal profession would be deprived of half their work were it not 
for this. Some useful hints of interest to teachers were given in relation 
to further steps in teaching language. 

These papers were respectively discussed by Messrs Albert 
J. Manchester, J. Milton Hall, James M. Sawin, Rev. 
Daniel Leach, and Professor S. S. Greene, each presenting 
practical ideas, enhancing thereby to teachers the usefulness 
of the session. 

The evening session at Music Hall attracted a large audi- 
ence. President Lyon introduced Hon. John Eaton, United 
States Commissioner of Education, who delivered a lecture 
upon the general character of education, and some of its 
pressing needs. 

In his introductory remarks the speaker quoted the words of Sir Walter 
Raleigh when lifting the axe of the executioner in the Tower of London, 
a short time before his execution. lie said, '.' This is a sharp instrument, 
but it cures all diseases." His career and death, said he, were an illus- 
tration, and his words an expression of the sentiment of his days. But 
another treatment is now universally approved; indeed, the change was 
then at hand. Two years after his execution the settlement of New 
England marked a new departure. In spite of the times the course of 
events led to the formation of a government in which all, equal before 
their Divine Master, were equal before the law of the land. Our fore- 
fathers saw that their compact of government must allow the children to 
learn so much of letters as to be able to read the Bible and the. laws 
under which they were to be governed. Iu the past, nations treated vice 
and crime by the sharp edge of the executioner's axe, but our fathers 
began to employ here in the wildernessa new remedy They introduced 
education by the government compact, resulting in a civilization and in 
a nation that has presented before the world a spectacle of dealing suc- 
cessfully with actual treason without the execution of the traitor. Edu- 
cation neither begins nor ends with the book knowledge, but is only con- 
centrated and intensified by the aid of teachers and books. 

The lecturer spoke of education as affected by the necessary changes 
produced by the changes of time. Outside of New England, shortly after 
its settlement, instruction was, as a rule, under the control of the church 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 83 

or private individuals, and extended only to the few. At the day of this 
settlement, we look in vain for civil decrees or laws enforcing education. 
A century later, civil law in Russia decreed elementary education, but it 
was onlv, because the people would by it be more efficient subjects of the 
monarchy. Outside of the inhospitable wilderness of the New World, edu- 
cation was given only to the few; but our fathers proposed to give all a 
chance to be educated, for they saw that vice and crime and poverty 
would be less frequent by its influence. They saw that all persons were 
endangered by these evils, and proposed they should all have the same 
chance to escape them. Our fathers saw that property could prevent 
vice, crime and pauperism by bearing the expense of education. Opposi- 
tion to the continuation of the support of education forgets that each in- 
dividual, each generation, must begin just as its predecessor. Man's 
work must not only be done anew and wholly, for each child as it 
appears, but each one must be informed and stimulated to do his part of 
the work of the town, the State, and the nation. The neglect of elemen- 
tary training for five years in any community, would find the next gene- 
ration on the stage totally ignorant. The thoughtful worker in the cause 
of education must have these considerations in view when he is counting 
the cost of sustaining svstems of education in vigorous operation. Our 
predecessors formed their conclusions that property must be put into the 
cause of education, and if Ave do not wish to experience the civil upheavals 
common among uneducated nations in their day, we must hold in mind 
their conclusions. 

The lecturer then went on to consider the effects of changes in the pop- 
ulation on educational questions. 

A tiling absolutely essential to the success of the work of the school is 
the intelligent and sympathetic cooperation of the surrounding commu- 
nity. When this is wanting and the teacher feels compelled not only to 
stimulate the pupils in their own efforts, and iterate and reiterate to them 
the things which should be brought before them by their parents and 
friends, there is but little hope of success. 

In conclusion the speaker addressing himself to the school teachers of 
Rhode Island, said, if I have not directed ray remarks successfully to you 
this evening, if I have rather suggested facts, the consideration of which 
should be for the whole American people, and should inspire every parent 
and citizen with an anxious and sympathetic cooperation; still I have 
not forgotten that the success or failure is committed to you. Have you 
taken your position from right motives? Are you in the line of duty? 
The Great Master says to you " go on," and His protection and support 
will not fail you. 

At the close of the lecture, Professor Mark Bailey, of 
Yale College, read the re-union poem, by Holmes, a selection 
from Dombey and Son, including the death of little Paul, 
and the story of the Hoosier who invested in live oysters, all 



84 HISTORY OF THE 

of which were received with strong marks of satisfaction ; 

and thus closed the first day of unusual intellectual enjoy- 
ment. 

Friday morning (second day) the Institute was opened 
with devotional exercises by lvev. D. H. Greer, Rector of 
Grace Church. President Lyon made an earnest and appro- 
priate address of welcome to the teachers assembled from 
every part of the State, and representing the interests of 
education in their respective towns. 

The high mission to which the teachers of to-day ;ire called, is a cause 
for congratulation- Their duties are worthy of the most exalted talents, 
the most cultivated intellects, and the noblest aspirations. Their work is 
not merely a profession, but a calling tu which they are summoned by a 
vox interna, whose bidding they cannot disregard. Under its influence 
they should consecrate all the powers of their being, — physical, mental, 
and spiritual. To elevate and ennoble their chosen pursuit should be the 
inspiring motive to untiring efforts, until, from exhausted energies, they 
arc unable to perform its responsible and self-denying labors. In Ger- 
many, where the profession has received its highest honor and won its 
noblest victories, teachers who have taught forty years in the public 
schools, retire on full pay. 

President Lyon then adverted to the different topics to he 
discussed and to the general arrangements for the meetings of 
the Institute, as well calculated to bring out the best thoughts 
of those who should speak, and to make this meeting of the 
Institute a profitable one to all in attendance. 

At the close of his address, Mr. J. C. Greenough was in- 
troduced to the audience, and read a paper upon "The Use 
of Text-Books." 

lie defined a text-book as a book regularly used by the student in the 
preparation of his lesson. Text-books arc of different qualities, but we 
are to consider when a good text-book should or should not be used. 
They should not be used when the printed page will not convey what is 
to be taught. Early teaching must be without books, and first ideas are 
the most important since they determine the pupil's future acquirements. 
Words are not the objects of our knowledge, but principles, and princi- 
ples are facts systematically arranged. We must study facts before we 
can classify. The perceptive faculties develop first in order, and upon 
their development depends that of the other faculties. Something more 



KIIODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 85 

than words are needed to develop this faculty. We must have objects to 
teach, and teach the objects before the words. The teacher should dis- 
tinguish between telling and teaching. He should observe and then 
make his own statements. This was Agassiz's method. The pupil gain- 
ing ideas in the natural order will adopt this method in after life, and 
will investigate for himself. This will make individual men rather than 
machines. Some say it is well to fix correct statements and store the 
mind with facts, to be known in later years; but this cultivates a habit of 
trusting to statements and memory rather than to experience. Let the 
teacher direct the pupil's investigation of his own consciousness. This 
is more properly called the natural method. 

When text-books contain the things to be studied — as language, litera- 
ture, and the like, they must be used. We should save time by increase 
of interest, acting as original investigators. There is a prejudice in many 
minds against oral teaching which is just, if it refers to mere rambling- 
talk. Teaching should be brief, concise and thoroughly understood by 
the teacher. Such teaching awakens enthusiasm. Books containing 
problems are useful, but principles and rules should be taught orally. 
Books often present the subject in such a manner that the need of obser- 
vation is not felt. Teaching is the mark of teachers not of text books. 

Text-books may be used to gain knowledge which cannot be obtained 
by experience, as in history and geography. Single facts are of little 
value except in their relation to other facts and to principles. The 
teacher should lead the pupil to compare known facts and reach conclu- 
sions valuable to himself and others. The pupil should study things be- 
fore principles and statements, should be familiar with practice before 
learning rules. In the study of language, translation precedes the 
methods of grammar. When the pupil has come to understand the sub- 
ject, if text-books can best state the knowledge, they may be profitably, 
used. 

The views presented in this paper were discussed at con- 
siderable length by Rev. Carlton A. Staples, Rev. Daniel 
Leach, and Professor Samuel S. Greene. Mr. Staples com- 
plimented the paper, and referred to his former teacher, who 
was wont to say " no one was fit to teach unless he could dis- 
pense with the text-books." He continued : 

There is a difference in pupils about using text-books. Tf we consider 
the aim to impart knowledge of facts and fit the scholar for life's work 
by awakening habits of thoughtfulness we shall arrive at proper conclu- 
sions. While the intellect should be cultivated, it is also important that 
facts and principles, which prepare the pupil to fill his place in life, 
should likewise be imparted, and this must be done mainly by text-books, . 
even if the teacher make his own books. 



86 HISTORY OF THE 

Tlif majority of pupils have not and never can have much individual- 
ity and to teach such pupils we must rely on text-books. Spelling must 
be learned by memory, it cannot be reasoned out, and in grammar we 
must teach principles from text-books. The reasoning powers should be 
developed; but, after all, do we not rely chiefly on the memory, even 
though it he treacherous? We do not succeed in properly awakening moral 
and religious life even in our Sunday schools; we should not only learn 
the rules but form the habits of virtuous conduct- 80, in the intellectual 
lile, we may simply cram the memory with facts. This is better than 
nothing, but not what is needed. We are gaining in illustration and in 
striving to awaken thoughtfulness and interest. It is more difficult to 
teach without text-books and to mnke a good exhibition to the trustees, 
commissioners and parents, yet a very little power of discrimination is 
better than any amount of mere book knowledge. 

Rev. Mr. Leach followed Mr. Staples, and said : 

He believed a skillful teacher would not be closely confined to text- 
books, but properly used they are essential to the good of the school. 
How they should be used would depend upon the capacity, nge and cir- 
cumstances of the child. Thought may be awakened by objects, by 
pictures, by description, or by the names of objects. Children have few 
spontaneous ideas, and early knowledge is limited; how, then, can a 
teacher present numerous objects? The more the teacher can use objects 
the better, but pictures, descriptions or names of objects must at times 
take their place. Without the names of objects he will know nothing of 
what he sees. Thoughts must be put into language and should be ex- 
tracted from language. The child that can do this readily and accurately 
is educated. The memory is the only conservator of knowledge, and this 
is by exact, definite, precise language. Thoughts should be, as far as 
possible, in logical order; the closer the intimacy of relation the better 
The cultivation of memory should not be the exclusive work in our 
schools. A difficult but profitable work is the expression of thoughts in 
different words from those through which they Avere received. Reason- 
ing is the comparison of facts and is entirely dependent on the memory. 
To criticise is easy; a man might state just how to make a watch, and 
yet not be able to construct one. We all desii e to give the pupil as much 
knowledge as possible, and teach him to use it in the most effective 
manner. Words and language must be furnished before many ideas can 
be communicated, but the mind should not be burdened with mereempty 
words. Pupils should use pencil and slate, giving, in their own words, 
the ideas received. 

I dissent from the view that definitions and principles should be left to 
the teacher. It would produce; confusion, ami we should have no fixed 
definitions. The most difficult part of teaching, and that which re<nrires 
the most skill, is to express principles accurately and concisely in lan- 
guage, and when done these should be preserved. One defect in our 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 87 

teaching is inexactness. Processes should precede definitions but knowl- 
edge should be preserved in the best language. As regards spelling 
words the pupil does not understand, it is impossible that he should un- 
derstand the full meaning of all the words he meets. Children should 
thus learn to use words accurately. The memorizing of words is to be 
learned primarily by young pupils from sentences in their reading lesson 
and by using them to express thoughts of their own. In reading we have 
the mechanical process and also the intellectual. The latter extracts the 
thought from the page. We next put thought into language and make 
it effective to others. We wish to cultivate the memory that the pupil 
may reason. Oral teaching is apt to be given at random. As a rule we 
should teach only what applies to the lesson. Beginning at the founda- 
tion all knowledge should be related. We should not burden the mem- 
ory with useless knowledge. When the memory is gone, all is gone. It 
is well to make knowledge attractive, but let the pupil understand that it 
is by toil and effort only that knowledge i gained. The mind as well as 
well as the body needs strong meat. We never read of a man who at- 
tained eminence as a scholar who had not a good memory. Our teachers 
are now striving more than ever, that the scholars shall derive ideas from 
the text books and not that they may give a mere verbal recitation. 

Professor Greene, in closing the discussion, said : 

I belong to both sides of this question. In my earlier years of study 
the professor came before us with notes or books and began to rub a glass 
tube with a calf-skin. He then held it over the table on which he had 
placed some light particles and we saw these alternately attracted to and 
repelled from the glass. He then began to explain it and give us facts 
connected with it. I enjoyed this exercise, I know I did. I can con- 
ceive of his coming with the statement of the fact and then proving his 
statement by experiments. I sometimes question which is the better, but 
I confess I like the first. I should not wish the proiessor to repeat it 
many times. Object-teaching is often carried to excess. 

Suppose I take geography; I wish to give the pupil an idea of Mada- 
gascar I first show him an island, however small, then teach him of 
larger islands, and go from the object which gives the elementary idea 
up to the great idea. If you say to me, " Titus erected a battering ram," 
unless 1 have seen a picture of it, it is all a grand blank to me. The 
object of teaching is to fill out and open up the thoughts which the pupil 
entrusts to memory. Commit to memory through the understanding, not 
through the language simply. My thought is this; the business of the 
teacher is to furnish ideas, let him use text-books, but let him make his 
ideas clear. The disadvantage of teaching without a tex-book is the 
crowding into the mind of five or six different things without a record. 
A record helps to recall. It should be as brief as possible. My class are 
required to take their own notes or to take my dictation, I have tried this 
method and am satisfied. The text-book must have a great deal oHum- 



88 HISTORY OF THE 

ber in it; let me use the book and throw away the lumber. Both with 
and without the text-book, is the true way to teach; the teacher who 
cannot teach without, is not tit to teach. 

Professor Bailey gave a pleasant lecture on Reading : 

I occasionally find a class well drilled in logical analysis, and this is 
the preparation for reading sentences . Do you not think it jtossible to 
make rending orderly, scientific and more useful and practical? Huxley 
says, " Method is the same in all sciences." Observe fads, then group, 
and then elaborate them. Deducing conclusions from this elaborating of 
facts, you individualize and observe the points of similarity. You then 
test your observations. This is verification. This method is not impos- 
sible in reading. We may go out and observe the best talkers, we ob- 
serve the same facts in the conversations of many, and then say, " All 
persons speak in this way " For example, how do people speak when 
most happy in expression? On matter of fact ideas, they speak just loud 
enough, and just fast enough, with moderate force, stress, time, &c. We 
thus begin to classify. What changes are made for increased enthusiasm? 
Their ideas are expressed faster, louder and with marked stress. You 
know expressions of joy or sorrow, when you cannot hear the woi'ds. 
We observe, till we are satisfied, how people express happy ideas. Joy- 
ous ideas are spoken with gushing emphasis, increased time, a longer 
slide, and purer quality of voice. We observe sadness in the same way. 
We have here also good training in accurate observation. People when 
sad, use the semi-tone, as we use the black keys of an instrument for 
plaintive pieces. It is a law of nature in speech as well as in music, that 
we should use suppressed force and peculiar half tones to indicate sad- 
ness. Grand, royal words, require large volume and open tone. Pleasant 
language for harsh ideas is not always sufficient. They require far dif- 
ferent tones, abrupt emphasis, harsh stress. The dog Avill mind when you 
speak decidedly. He will generally mind the tone of voice rather than 
the words spoken. You distinguish irony by the tone, if you hear it, or 
by the sentiment, if you read. It is a difficult thing to individualize 
ideas, but this is the secret of good reading. Note the points of resem- 
blance or difference. The first means of individualization is by compari- 
son and contrast; all thought depends on these. Everything is relative. 
You must have lights and shadows in expression and in thinking. Our 
bad reading is not due to the want of good voices, but to a want of care- 
ful thought and accurate preparation. 

At tho afternoon session Professor Bailey resumed his lec- 
ture, ;in-l read with the pupils of the Normal School, Presi- 
dent Lincoln's speech delivered at Cemetery Hill, bringing 
out the eontrasts, and showing that a phrase containing hut a 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 89 

single idea should be spoken as a whole, and tested his direc- 
tions for emphasis and stress. The exercise was one of the 
best features of this department of instruction, and was re- 
ceived by the audience with unqualified satisfaction. 

At the close of Professor Bailey's lecture, Mr. Levi W. 
Russell read a paper upon the question, " How can our 
Schools be Improved ? " He said : 

This question can hardly be considered distinct from the whole work 
we have discussed here. But as I understand the point, it is to bring to 
light the faults of our schools with a view to rectifying them. And we 
shall not lack advisers, for every Yankee can run the government or 
teach a school. The reformer says: " All is out of joint." Everything 
is to be done by method and made perfect. 

Then there are the specialists of divers kinds. The professions come 
to us: the physician, attorney, painter, sculptor, trader, the master 
mechanic, and even the kitchen, invades the school. The pressure for 
more and better is so great we may well pause and ask if our schools are 
adapted to the pupil. So many things require study just when the pupil 
needs time and opportunity for physical development. Music, drawing, 
sketching, &c, the natural sciences, to say nothing of history and decla- 
mation, are urged upon us. New studies improve the appearance of the 
school, but the question arises, will they not kill the scholars, especially 
the girls? It is not difficult to urge them to work beyond recuperation. 
The boy generally manages to live through it, and takes to mental growth 
afterward. The tendency is to keep all we have and add more. It will 
take but a few minutes each day, and is so important. Is not our present 
system injurious? What can best be spared, is the question. Make 
music recreation, let drawing in part replace writing. With the haste 
of fath< rs and mothers it is plain we cannot lengthen the time. We 
should concentrate attention on a few studies and be thorough. Facts 
are worth more than theories. My own experience in Spelling teaches that 
it can be learned thoroughly. Tn Geography, we should teach how to use 
maps rather than make use of them ourselves. In Arithmetic we give 
too much work. Our school work requires too long application to be 
healthfully accomplished, but who is to blame for this? Ask the mothers 
and fathers who will urge their children forward. Ask the school visi- 
tors. We are all to blame and must mend, or our pupils will be physical 
wrecks. The time is at hand. In Hartford and Boston the movement 
of reform has begun. Children under fifteen years old should do most 
of their studying in school during school hours. You may say these 
hours are not all devoted to study; part of the time is taken in recita- 
tions; but recitations should require as much mental application as study. 
There are manifest and important advances, as in grading and classifica- 
tion, hut there art; objections to a close adherence to these. The com- 
11 



90 HISTORY OF THE 

mittee and teacher expect the same from every scholar. Nothing is 
more impossible, unless the requirements are low. Many a teacher will 
keep hack some for the others. Would it not be better that even the dull 
scholars should make progress? I do not advocate a superficial course, 
but that the pupil learn thoroughly what his mental ability is fitted for. 

Mr. Russell advocated the presence of women on School 
Boards, and more male teachers in schools of lower grades, 
that the pupils might come into contact with the masculine 
mind. The two should work together in mental training. 
To improve our schools only teachers entirely qualified for 
their duties should be employed. Skilled teachers should be 
promoted and well paid, outranking those who do a minimum 
of work for maximum pay. The Germans say to us, "You 
build palaces for school houses, and starve your teachers." 
It is not nearly so bad as they represent, but when you pay 
better wages, you will get better teachers and have better 
schools. 

Mr. Russell's paper was discussed by Mr. William A. 
Mo wry : 

We may nil have our theories, but for myself, I knoiv less about it than 
I thought I did ten years ago. Let us see what elements constitute a 
good school. First, a ^ood teacher; second, good scholars; third, inter- 
ested parents; fourth, the school house and its appliances; fifth, the 
methods of study. 

As regards good scholars, we should not give the most attention to 
teaching the best, but the poorest. We cannot choose our material. 
Proper attention should be given to ventilation, heating, light, text-books, 
&c. The good sense of the people will look after these matters. Of the 
course of study I know little. The basis seems to be the same as our 
fathers studied: the three ''R's," with spelling, geography and grammar. 
Of methods, teachers have had pet theories which they have tried to 
prove a, success, but which have not succeeded. Is it reasonable that we 
should spend as much time as our fathers upon these common studies, 
and have nothing of natural history and the botany of New England? I 
would no! pull down the old till a better method can replace it. Would 
that the combined wisdom of New England might lay out a course of 
study for our schools. There is no profession where more mistakes are 
made. We spoil souls in learning how to teach, and don't learn then. 
The more I think of it, the more dissatisfied I am, but I do not See how 
to lay down a perfect course of study. A scheme will not be devised by 
mere Local trials. Teachers .should not take what is said from the plat- 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 91 

form as perfect. It appears to me that a great mistake is made by at- 
tempting to exhaust a subject the first time going over it. Would it not 
be abetter plan to go over the elements of a subject, as arithmetic, or 
geography, or grammar, and then review, adding more difficult exam- 
ples, and by the third time overtake all the intricate parts, thus com- 
pleting the subject. Over half the pupils in our lower grades of schools 
leave before arriving at the Grammar school. It appears to me that it 
is better to take the elements of the " four ground rules," and proceed 
with simple and easy examples through the elements of fractions and 
decimals, United States money, and reduction and compound numbers, 
perhaps even to percentage, before entering the Grammar school. Then 
go back and review, adding more difficult, problems and examples. 
Every elementary study should be learned in this way — first, a cursory 
view, then a more thorough review. Get first the leading points, then go 
over again and get the details. We should ever keep in mind the primary 
object of a course of school education. It is not the acquisition of 
knowledge, that is secondary, but it is to develop and discipline the 
powers of the mind; to make strong men and women, with good heads 
and good hearts. 

The interest awakened by the exercises of the preceding 
days had now reached a point of rare intensity. As the 
hour for the evening session drew near, crowds were seen 
hurrying to the Hall, as if fearful of failing to obtain a seat ; 
and not without reason. At half past seven o'clock every 
seat on the floor and in the spacious galleries was occupied. 
Then the aisles began to fill, until they were densely packed, 
while the vestibule and the entrance ways even to the street 
were tilled with persons striving in vain to gain admission. 
This standing multitude stood patiently and quietly for more 
than two hours listening with eager ears to the distinguished 
gentlemen by whom the assembly was addressed — the silence 
being broken only by repeated bursts of applause. It was a 
proud moment for the membeis of the Institute, particularly 
for those present who were among its founders, and who had 
watched with parental solicitude its progress for nearly a 
generation of years ; and as the President and the gentlemen 
seated with him upon the platform looked down upon the 
" sea of upturned faces," they evidently felt the quickening 
power of the scene. The President addressed the assembly 
in a few earnest words : 



92 HISTOKY OF THE 

The presence of so great numbers was an assurance of their earnest 
sympathy in the cause of popular education. By it, teachers are cheered 
and stimulated to greater exertion. The proper training and culture of 
the young are worthy of the deepest interest and fostering care of all. 
The waywardness of youth, the alluring attractions of social life, and 
the seductive influence of worthless hooks, are obstacles which cannot 
he overci me by the teacher alone ; — the task is too difficult, the labor too 
great. The cordial support and cooperation of parents and guardians 
are indispensahle. Even the improved condition of our schools is hut 
the golden fruitage of an elevated public opinion. This opinion has ex- 
pressed itself in the increasingly liberal appropriations for education 
made, that without money and without price the best possihle advantages 
may he given to every child in this Slate, thus opening wide the portals 
to the temple of knowledge. For the year ending June, 1836, the entire 
amount expended in tins State for the support of public schools was only 
seven thousand four hundred and sixty-one dollars and ninety-nine cents. 
For 1873 it was six hundred and two thousand eight hundred and twelve 
dollars and twenty-eight cents — more than eighty times as much as it was 
thirty-seven years ago. 

Yet the work is scarcely commenced. Rhode Island, if she would be 
true to her history, thoughtful of her highest welfare, and become, as Dr. 
Wayland once expressed it, the " Attica of America," must pour out her 
treasure like water, that her educational advantages make keep pace 
with her increasing wealth and general prosperity. 

The other speakers of the evening were Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor C. C. Van Zandt, Hon. Thomas A. Doyle, Rev. E. G. 
Robinson, D. D., President of Brown University, Hon. John 
Eaton, Rt. Rev. Thomas M. Clark, and Hon. Thomas W. 
Bicknell. 

Lieutenant-Governor Van Zandt gave a vivid and amusing 
description of public schools as they existed in former years. 

Mayor Doyle .-poke of several changes he thought would 
eventually he made in the present school system. He was 
in favor of the assignment of fewer pupils to a teacher, and 
of giving to the woman who teaches the same studies as the 
man and does the work as well, the same compensation. He 
thought that there should he more school houses and smaller 
ones. 

President Robinson compared the present method of teach- 
ing in our schools and colleges with that pursued four or five 
hundred years ago. He did not think well of crowding more 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 93 

studies into the school or the University than could be thor- 
oughly mastered within a given time. He expressed himself 
as in sympathy with a broad culture, and hoped that ere long 
there might be established a more vital union between Brown 
University and the common school system of the State. 

Hon. John Eaton spoke of the increase of illiteracy, ex- 
tending against an increase of wealth and prosperity in our 
own and in foreign lands. He was gratified with the efforts 
making in Rhode Island to counteract this evil, and believed 
that gatherings like these of the Institute, and this sympathy 
of feeling in educational matters, would help the work 
throughout the country. 

Bishop Clark, after referring to his early experience as a 
school teacher, called attention to the broad distinction be- 
tween instruction and education. Teachers often failed to 
notice this in their work. He favored smaller schools and a 
larger number of teachers, and advocated the milder mode of 
school discipline. 

Hon. Thomas \V. Bicknell gave a comprehensive statement 
of what was doing for public instruction in Rhode Island. 
The number of weeks of schooling has been increased. The 
compensation of teachers is better than formerly. Perma- 
nency and stability were becoming elements in school work. 
The University and the Normal School were doing a great 
work for the State. The wealth of Rhode Island, in propor- 
tion to population, is greater than that of any other New 
England State. To make the schools better a better super- 
vision throughout the State is needed. Other wants are 
woman's influence on School Boards, a compulsory school 
law, an industrial school, a good truant law, a child-opera- 
tive law, and a strong public sentiment to sustain it. 

These addiesses were interspersed with admirable music 
by the young ladies of the Providence High School, under 
the direction of Mr. B. W. Hood, Mr. Frank F. Tingley 
presiding at the organ. Professor Bailey also read selec- 
tions from Mark Twain's " Roughing It," from Mrs. H. B. 



94 HISTORY OF THE 

Stowe's " Oldtown Stories," and from Major Little's " An- 
thony and Cleopatra." The young ladies of the High School 
closed the exercises with the pleasant song, "Home, Sweet 
Home," and thus ended a day of great intellectual enjoy- 
ment. 

At the closing meeting on Saturday forenoon, the Treas- 
urer's report was received and accepted. Mr. Greenough, 
in a few appreciative words, announced the death of Prof. 
Osceola H. Kile, Principal of the High School in Westerly, 
and offered the following resolution, which was unanimously 
adopted by a silent vote, the members of the Institute rising : 

Resolved, That in the death of Professor O. H. Kile, of Westerly, we 
have lost an able, enthusiastic and devoted teacher, who was equally re- 
markable for his success in the school-room and in the popular assembly.* 

Mr. Samuel Austin read a short paper, replete with weighty 
thoughts, upon " The Importance and Demands of Elemen- 
tary Education." After alluding to the great number of peo- 
ple who arc not reached by popular education, he said : 

Universal education is our boast, and might be our pride, if only we 
really provided it. It matters not whether it be pride or some other 
cause that closes our doors. Of those Avho do attend, two-thirds com- 
plete their education in the primary schools. The average attendance of 
our schools is very low. The uneducated form a large part of our popu- 
lation. A tide of foreign ignorance is constantly increasing the number. 
This fact should awaken deepestsolicitude. The urgent demand is uni- 
versal, thorough education. For this we should aim. President Robin- 

*Mr. Kile was born in Lewis, Essex Comity, New York, January 10th, 1839, and 
died at Westerly, R. 1., of pneumonia, January 10th, 1873. He was educated at the 
University Of Vermont, and graduated in August, 1S63. His earlier choice of a pro- 
fession was the law, but subsequently determined to make teaching his life- 
business. His first effort was at Vergennes, Yt., where he built up a model 
school, and as an educator obtained an extensive influence in the state Here- 
moved to \\ esterly in 1870, and became tin' Principal of the High school in that 
place. He attended the session of the Higher Department of Instruct ion at the 
openingofthe annual meeting of the [nstitute, January 9th, 1873, but sutlVring 
from indisposition, was compelled to return home the same day. and survived 
only one week, lie was highly esteemed for christian qualities by all who knew 
him, and his sudden death was widely mourned. 



EIIODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 95 

son well says that " candidates for the University ai-e distinguished for 
the thoroughness of their elementary education." The elementary edu- 
cation generally moulds the life. But even the ability to read has a great 
influence upon after life. Our Reform School illustrates this fact- The 
higher education will follow the elementary. Even from our evening 
schools come aspirants for college training. The evening. schools are 
doing a great work; they make good overseers instead of poor laborers. 
Who can fathom our responsibility in view of the vast intellectual power 
of the masses. The duty of providing foi our native children is not the 
most important. Does not the Christian system require the elevation of 
the ignorant? Let us strive to comprehend something of the length, 
height, depth and breadth of the subject. Shall we not compel the in- 
tellectually lame, halt and blind to come into our public schools? Our 
material prosperity depends upon the prosperity of society. The rich 
mines of education should be within reach of all classes. Let us multi- 
ply our attractive evening resorts, and thus cultivate the youth even 
while they continue their daily toil. 

Mr. Cady offered a resolution, approving of a proposition 
to aid the common schools throughout the country by the dis- 
tribution from the United States treasury of the net proceeds 
of the public lands. The resolution was supported by Com- 
missioner Eaton, and adopted. The committee on the 
Rhode Island Schoolmaster reported its management to be 
eminently satisfactory. The list of contributing editors 
nominated, was elected. Messrs. Bicknell, Mowry and Hoyt 
were appointed a committee to confer with other States in 
reference to a New England school journal, and should any 
plan be presented for establishing such a journal that the 
matter be referred to the Board of Directors for action. A 
committee was appointed to collect membership fees for the 
Institute and take subscriptions for the Schoolmaster. The 
officers of the Institute for the year ensuing were elected. 
President Lyon declining a re-election, Mr. Isaac F. Cady 
was unanimously chosen to succeed him. The customary 
votes of thanks were passed. The printing of the History 
of the Institute was referred to the Board of Directors. The 
final hour of the session was devoted to the relation of edu- 
cational reminiscences, by several of the early members. 

President Lyon spoke of his earlier connection with the 



96 HISTORY OF THE 

Institute, and of those who were his co-laborers then. He 
alluded to the remark of Dr. AVayland that "Rhode Island 
ought to he the Attica of America." He expressed his pleasure 
at being here under such encouraging circumstances. We 
come back to the old homestead. The Institute has changed 
the character of the teaching in the State. Its great influ- 
ence is shown by such a meeting as last evening. He spoke 
of the effect of silent forces, beautifully illustrating it by a 
certain remarkable ocean current. He closed his remarks 
with flattering allusions to his old friend and adviser, whom 
he introduced. 

Hon. John Kingsbury then said : 

1 wish to welcome the old friends, and extend acoi'dial greeting to the 
younger and new ones. I believe in teaching from the call of the "vox 
interna." My early experiences of injustice in school awakened in me a 
desire to teach. Discipline should be administered upon the strong and 
those of high position, as well as to others. Indeed, this is the most 
effective place to begin He continued his remarks, giving some of his 
experience in regard to memorizing text-books He believed that ana- 
lytic study weakened the word memory, making it difficult to commit 
verbati m . 

President Lyon, alluding to Mr. Kingsbury as the first 
President of the Institute, now introduced the second, Prof. 

S. S. Greene, who said : 

I have tried in vain to excuse myself from speaking. I recall, with 
great interest, my early connection with this work. I believe the Insti- 
tute has been especially successful in disseminating methods <>t teaching 
throughout the State. I believe there has been great progress in methods 
within the last twenty years. I do not claim that we have all the best 
methods, or that we have settled methods, but there has been improve- 
ment. We have been experimenting sometimes with advantage, some- 
with disadvantage This has been necessary; but if we have profited 
by experience, it has not been all loss. Geography is not now taught ex- 
clusively by text-books, but by maps and drawings. The modes of teach- 
ing arithmetic and spelling are in advance of those of twenty years ago. 
As regards committing to memory, the truth is, all lessons should be 
committed to memory, and should be understood. The power of lan- 
guage and expression should be cultivated. Language is the grand . in- 
strument by which we impress ourselves upon those around us. The 
motto of the teacher should be "Thought and expression, bothy There 



RHODE TSLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 97 

is yet much to be learned of teaching language. Thought is the matter, 
language the means of using it. 

Hon. Amos Perry was introduced as a prominent mover in 
establishing the Institute. He related some interesting rem- 
iniscences of the organizing in 1S44, alluding to the interest 
and success of Mr. Barnard in the work of education in 
Rhode Island at that time, when Horace Mann said, "To dis- 
perse a mob, announce an educational meeting." There was 
then great opposition to supporting public schools. Our 
success has been more than the warmest friends could have 
anticipated. Our re-union must be in part, of spirit, as some 
are no more present in the body. We treasure the memory 
of many. He spoke further of the changes in use of text- 
books which formerly were subject to the unanimous approval 
of the Grammar school teachers and thus made changes in- 
frequent. 

The historian of the Institute was now called upon : 

He was reminded of the Jewish feasts when the tribes came up to 
Jerusalem, to rejoice over the ingathered harvest. So the teachers of 
our State, the faithful laborers in the wide domain of instruction, are 
here to-day to enjoy the recitals of educational progress, and in the pros- 
perity with which the past has been crowned, to find incitements for the 
earnest work of the future. He alluded to the comprehensiveness and 
interest of subjects on the programme and to the independence of thought 
manifested in the papers and discussions. He approved of the increase of 
male teachers, but would not have fewer female teachers. We should have 
more teachei-s and smaller schools. He would have not more than thirty 
scholars under a single teacher. This would enable teachers to give a 
personal attention to each pupil, which, with a school of fifty, sixty or 
more is impossible. It would also insure thoroughness in the work of 
the school room, and though such a system might enhance the expense 
of maintaining schools, the compensation would be found in the more 
rapid progress of the scholars. Doubtless one-quarter, if not one-third, 
of the time now required for a full course of study could thus be saved. 
He referred to the effect of education as shown in the spirit of national 
arbitration. He thought education should reach the heart as well as the 
intellect. 

It was a striking coincidence that this annual session of the 
Institute, distinguished for numbers, enthusiasm, and an af- 
13 



98 HISTORY OF THE 

flucncc of practical ideas, should have rounded up its one 
hundredth meeting, and there was perti nancy in devoting its 
last moments to an interchange of pleasant memories. 

Normal School, 

It will be seen by the preceding pages that a Normal 
School, as a perfecting feature of our public school system, 
appears not for a moment to have been lost sight of by the 
friends of education. In and out of the Institute the need 
of a school for the training of teachers, or in familiar phrase, 
"to teach teachers how to teach," was freely discussed, and 
earnestly recommended. 

In 1850, a Didactic Department was established in Brown 
University, designed to do the work of a Normal School, 
and in 1851, Samuel S. Greene, Esq., then recently elected 
Superintendent of Public Schools in Providence, was per- 
mitted by vote of the School Committee, to accept the Pro- 
fessorship of the same in connection with his duties due to 
the city. But however gratifying were the fruits of this 
arrangement, it soon became clear that to secure the best re- 
suits of a Normal Institution, — to make its work reach fur- 
ther and accomplish more than the Didactic Department of 
the University was able to do, it must be popularized, and to 
popularize it, the Institution must stand in close relations 
with the schools for which its labors were to be performed. 

With this conviction, a Normal School was opened in Provi- 
dence, October 24, 1852, as a private enterprise by Messrs. 
Greene, Russell, Colburn and Guyot ;. and Mr. Greene 
having resigned the Professorship of Didactics in the Uni- 
versify, he was permitted by the School Committee to devote 
a portion of his time to this school. During two sessions of 
five months each it was attended by a large class of pupils 
wishing to prepare themselves for teachers, and did much to 
extend an interest in Normal instruction. But to give it the 
assurance of permanency, Municipal or State sanction and 
control were necessary. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 99 

At this juncture the School Committee of Providence took 
up the subject, looking to the establishing of such a school 
for its own teachers, and at a special meeting, December 20, 
1853, a committee consisting of Theodore Cook, Edwin M. 
Stone, William Gammell, Amos D. Smith, and Gamaliel L. 
Dwight, was appointed to consider the plan, and report at a 
subsequent meeting. This they did January 13, 1854, and 
presented the following resolution, which was adopted: 

Resolved, riuit in the opinion of this committee, the time lias arrived 
when a Normal School for the education of teachers should be added to 
our system of public instruction, and that it be lecommended to the City 
Council to establish such a school, either separately, for the exclusive 
benefit of the city, or in connection with the government of the State of 
Rhode Island, for the joint benefit of the city and the State, asjn their wis- 
dom they may deem best. 

In accordance with this resolution, a code of rules and 
regulations was drawn up and adopted, and the Committee 
of Qualifications was authorized to open the school at such 
time as it should deem expedient. The City Council made 
the required appropriation, and everything seemed in readi- 
ness for continuing the school on a new basis. This move- 
ment of the city may have hastened the action of the State, 
for, at the May session of the General Assembly, an act was 
passed, establishing a State Normal School, and $3,000 were 
appropriated for its support. Although the city left the field 
to be occupied exclusively by the State, the School Commit- 
tee showed its cordial approval of what had been done, by 
authorising Professor Greene to give a daily lecture to the 
school on the English language, and on the government and 
organization of the different grades of schools, for which 
service he was allowed to receive such compensation as might 
be agreed upon between himself and the State authorities. 

On the 2yth of May, the school was inaugurated with ap- 
propriate ceremonies, in the presence of Governor Iloppin 
and a large assemblage of the friends of the Institution. 
An earnest congratulatory address was made by the Gov- 



100 HISTORY OF THE 

eroor. The inaugural address was delivered by Commissioner 
Potter. In this, he treated of the province of a Normal 
School, what might and what might not be rightly expected 
of it. He spoke of the difficulties it would have to contend 
with, and touched upon manners as an essential feature of 
the school room, and of moral instruction as a vital element 
in the system of education. 

Thus, alter nine years of anxious waiting on the part of 
the Institute for the germination of the seed thought sown by 
Mr. Barnard, the Normal School came into being, to till an 
unoccupied place, and to elevate the standard of teaching 
qualifications. Of this school Mr. Dana P. Colburn was 
appointed Principal, and Mr. Arthur Sumner, Assistant, the 
former at an annual salary of $1,200, and the latter at s7a0. 

The school was continued in Providence with flattering 
success until 1857, when it was removed to Bristol. After 
the lamented death of Mr. Colburn,* Mr. Joshua Kendall, 
of Meadville, Pa., was appointed Principal. Mr. Kendall 

*Dana Pond Colburn the youngest of it family of fifteen children, was a .son of 
[saacus Colburn, ami was born in West Dedham, Mass.. September 23th, ls-2:i. 
After suitable preparation be entered tin- Normal School, at Bridgewater, .Mass., 
in the spring of 1843, for t lie purpose of qualifying himself to become a teacher. 
Saving completed his course of study in that institution, he commenced school 
teaching in the town of Dover, and afterwards taught in Sharon, then in East 
Greenwich. B. I., and subsequently in Brookline, Mass. In IStT he was employed 
by Horace Mann, Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, to conduct 
Teacher-' Institutes. In the following year, Rev. Dr. Sears, Mr. Mann's successor, 
re-engaged him as one of the corps of Institute instructors. In ls4s he becamean 
assistant teacher in the Normal School at Bridgewater, and in 1850, removed to 
Newton, to engage in private tuition, and to assisl Dr. Sears in conducting Insti- 
tutes. In ls.YJ, as already mentioned, he commenced Normal Instruction in Provi- 
dence, and remained al the head of the State Institution until December 15th, 1859, 
on which day he was suddenly killed in Bristol, lie was thrown from his carriage 
while taking his customary afternoon ride, dragged a considerable distance over 
the frozen ground, and was taken up fearfully mangled and lifeless. Ilis remains 
were remove. 1 for burial to his native town. lie was the author of several arith- 
metics, which obtained a good reputation among teachers. Mr. Colburn was, at 
the time of his death, in the 47th year of his age. '-Thus early perished one 
whose qualities of mind and heart made him admired and loved by all who knew 
him." 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 101 

brought to his new and somewhat difficult position a thor- 
oughly trained mind, scholarly attainments, a high ideal of 
intellectual and moral culture, and an ardent devotion to his 
work. His services were justly appreciated by the Board of 
Trustees, who gave him their hearty co operation. He con- 
tinued in the successful discharge of his duties until April, 
1864, when he resigned and removed to Cambridge, Mass.* 
The school was continued upwards of a year after Mr. 
Kendall's resignation, under the charge of a female Prin- 
cipal, but the location having proved unfavorable to its 
continued prosperity, it was suspended July 3, 1865. For a 
number of years various plans for resuscitating it were de- 
viled, but without effect. But after a suspension of more 
than six years, a more favorable condition of the public mind 
prevailed. The school was re-established by the General 
Assembly, at the January session, 1871, and was opened 
September 6th, the same year, in Normal Hall, formerly the 
High Street Congregational Church, in the city of Providence, 
with impressive services. Governor Padelford delivered the 
inaugural address, in the presence of an audience that filled 
the Hall to its full capacity. Of the school thus revived, 
J. C. Greenough, A. B., an instructor of experience from 
the Normal School at Westfield, Mass., was appointed Prin- 
cipal. The school opened with a large accession of pupils, 
and has since continued in a highly prosperous condition. f 

* The female assistants in the school from 1860 to 1865 were Misses Harriet Good- 
win, Ellen R. Luther, and Ellen G. LeGro. In 1861, Mr. Loomis was employed to 
give instruction in vocal music. 

t Mr. Greenough's assistants are, (November, 1874.) Misses Susan C. Baucrolt, 
Mary L. Jewett, Sarah Marble, and Anna C. Bucklin. The school year of this In- 
stitution is divided into two terms of twenty-one week* each, including a recess 
of one week in the Spring and Summer term, and the same in the Fall and Winter 
term. In the latter an additional recess of three days during Thanksgiving week 
is taken. The course of lectures and special instruction comprises Moral Science, 
Language, Mediaeval and English History, Physiology, Mathematics, Rhetoric, 
School Laws of Rhode Island. French, Elocution. Drawing, Penmanship and Ger- 
man. 

From the opening in September, 1871, to September, 1874, 328 pupils have been 
registered and 104 have graduated. 



102 HISTORY OF THE 



Evening Schools. 



The first evening free school in Rhode Island was opened 
iu Providence in 1842, under the auspices of the Ministry-at- 
Large, to meet a class of wants then existing, which were 
not supplied by the day schools. For thirteen years it was 
continued with gratifying success. In the meantime public 
attention had been attracted to this class of schools, a sympa- 
thy for them was created, and in 1849 two were opened by the 
School Committee of Providence. In subsequent years they 
have increased as the needs of the community demanded. 
They are open to adults and are numerously attended by 
young persons older than the average age of pupils in the 
Grammar Schools. The number of pup Is enrolled for the 
winter session of 1873-74, was 2,56G, and the improvement 
in the several branches taught showed a commendable stu- 
diousness. Evening schools have been, for many years, em- 
braced in the school system of Providence, and are regarded 
with universal favor. 

Mr. Barnard, in his report to the General Assembly in 
1845, recommended opening evening schools "for appren- 
tices, clerks, and other young persons," who had been hurried 
into active employment without a suitable elementary educa- 
tion, and he thought it was not beyond the legitimate scope 
of a system of public instruction to provide in this way for 
the education of adults, who, from any cause, hail been de- 
prived of the advantages of school instruction. The Insti- 
tute, too, has at different times, as already seen, recognized 
the value of evening schools by emphatic votes of commen- 
dation. 

In 18G8, in view of the increase in the State by immigra- 
tion of an uneducated population, a number of gentlemen, 
manufacturers and others, organized an association known as • 
" The Rhode Island Educational Union," for the purpose of 
establishing, wherever possible, evening schools, reading 
rooms, and other means of intellectual improvement for the 



, RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 103 

classes before referred to. Mr. Samuel Austin, of Provi- 
dence, an experienced educator, with many years' experience 
in conducting schools of this description, was appointed 
General Agent of the Union. In this capacity he visited dif- 
ferent parts of the State to awaken an interest in their behalf. 
His labors have proved very successful. In the winter of 
1873-74, upwards of sixty evening schools were in operation, 
affording educational advantages which were availed of by 
more than six thousand persons. 

At a convention of the school officers of the State, called 
by the Commissioner of Public Schools, and held in Provi- 
dence, January 13, 1871, evening schools were among the 
important topics presented for consideration. Since then the 
Board of Education has sanctioned them, and secured from 
the General Assembly liberal giants for their encouragement. 
In his annual report for 1871, the State Commissioner made 
evening schools a prominent feature, and in 1873 he reports 
that they continue to furnish to a large number of persons 
" advantages for study, of which they were deprived in earlier 
years, and the value of which they have learned practically 
by experiencing their loss." Evening schools are not intended 
to rival, supplant, or in any way w 7 eaken the efficiency of 
the day schools, but to supplement them by providing the 
means of education for the classes already named, who are 
beyond the reach of other methods. 

Wisely conducted, schools of this character, in a manufac- 
turing State like Rhode Island, will prove "a beneficent 
agency for securing the end desired," viz. : the diffusion of 
intelligence, and the development of a higher moral and social 
condition among the great body of the people. 

Conclusion. 

In the preceding pages the names of many of the founders 
of the Rhode Island Institute cf Instruction have ap- 
peared, and their persistent labors amidst numerous discour- 
agements to advance the cause of education throughout the 



104 HISTORY OF THE » 

Slate have found an honorable record. Yet while all wrought 
well and deserve the meed of praise, it will not he invidious 
to repeat the names of sonic of the number, to whom, more 
than to all others, the Institute was indebted for its early 
prosperity. On this high record will ever stand conspicuous 
the names of Francis YVayland,* John Kingsbury, John L. 

* From the very beginning, the Institute and the cause of popular education 
found an earnest, steadfast and strong supporlcr in President Wayland. He cor- 
rectly appreciated the importance of so fostering and improving the common 
schools of the State, that a parent, to use his own words, '• need look nowhere 
else for as good instruction as his family may require." and that guaged by this 
standard, " public instruction should be provided in sufficient extent to meet the 
wants of the community."— (Report to Providence School Committee, April 22, 
1828.) 

He advocated a High School as a part of our system of public instruction,—" a 
school which should provide instruction in all that is necessary for a finished 
education." 

In the realm of mind, Dr. Wayland repudiated the factitious distinctions of 
caste. For the Fergusons, Paxtons, Millers, Franklins, Fultons, Rittenhouses, 
Whitneys, Bowditehes, Chases, Wilsons, and Greeleys, of however humble origin, 
he would have provided the most favorable opportunities for the full develop- 
ment of their intellectual powers; and he believed that bringing all classes into 
our public schools, to pursue together the studies that were to qualify them for 
literary or business life, w r as not only a consistent illustration of the spirit of our 
free institutions, but a pledge of their perpetuity. 

Acting under this conviction, his time and labor were freely given to secure 
these high results. Every call for words of counsel or of encouragement was 
promptly and cheerfully answered, and his services in aid of the President ol 
the Institute, while conducting educational meetings in vai'ious towns of the 
State, as well as in oiher ways, were invaluable. The key note of his thought at 
this period found expression in these words: "Cultivate enlarged and liberal 
views of your duties to the young, who are coming after you. and of the means 
that are given you to discharge them. . . . Your example would excite others 
to follow in your footsteps. Who can Veil how widely you might bless others, 
while you were laboring to bless yourselves."— (Address at Paw-tucket, October 
31, 1846.) 

For many years Dr. Wayland was an active and influential member of the 
School Committee in Providence. In 1828, when the school system of that city 
was re-organized, he, as chairman of a committee to whom the whole subject had 
been referred, drew up an elaborate and exhaustive report, which led to the adop- 
tion of several importanl changes. As an educator in the higher departments of 
learning, he ranked with the foremost of his time, while ins interest in the Public 
Free School .system, and in the work of the INSTITUTE, continued unabated to the 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 105 

Hughes, Wilkins Updike, Thomas Shepard,* Elisha R. Pot- 
ter, Sylvester G. Shearman, Henry A. Dumont, Lemuel H. 
Arnold, Isaac Hall, George W. Cross, Horace Babcock, 
Christopher C. Greene, William Gammell, Silas R. Kenyon, 
R. G. Burlingame, Nathan Bishop, John J. Stimson, Amos 
Perry, Thomas C. Hartshorn, William T. Grinnell, Samuel 
Austin, William D. Brayton, Sylvester Patterson, Thomas 
Waterman, Thomas R. Hazard, Joshua D. Giddings, Row- 
land G. Hazard, Moses Brown Ives,f George Manchester, 
Christopher G. Perry, Jesse S. Tourtellot, Jenekes Mowry, 
John J. Kilton, Joseph T. Sisson, Latimer Ballou, Samuel 

close of life. His name will ever be identified -with the history of education and 
philanthropy in Rhode Island. 

Dr. Wayland presided over Brown University from 1827 to 1855, and subsequently 
was two years a member of the Corporation. He died September 26, 1865. 

*For nearly or quite half a century, Rev. Dr. Shepard, of Bristol, has partici- 
pated in important movements in behalf of public education in this State. As a 
member of the School Committee of the town, and for a series of years its chair- 
man, and as a trustee of the first State Normal School, he has rendered valuable 
services tc the cause. For many years he was an officer of the Rhode Island 
Institute of Instruction, and its meetings were often made more effective by 
the part he took in its deliberations. Dr. Shepard still lives, at an advanced age, 
to derive pleasure from a contemplation of the progress of a work which he has 
done so much to promote. 

fin an address before the Institute in 1873, Hon. John Kingsbury related the fob 
lowing incident, honorable to the public spirit of Mr. Ives. It occurred in 1828, 
when " there was a formidable opposition to the proposed improvement of our 
schools," even in the school committee. " In this committee there was one of our 
merchant princes. He was a man of great modesty, of deeds rather than words. 
In the discussion, which was warm and protracted, he had taken no part. Just as 
the question was about to be taken, he arose, and said substantially : ' Mr. Chair- 
man, I have heard the arguments on this subject with careful attention, and am 
ready to give my vote. I prefer to leave my children less money in a community 
well educated, rather than a greater amount in a community imperfeetly edu- 
cated; I shall vote in the affirmative on the question.' These words, though few, 
fell with crushing weight upon the opposition, and the school ordinance was 
adopted. This was the late Moses Brown Ives, a man whose purse was always 
ready to sustain his vote on this occasion. From this fact it is easy to infer that 
the attempt to enlist property holders, especially rich men, against the improve- 
ment of our public schools, was a decided failure." 

14 



106 HISTORY OF THE 

Greene, Caleb Faruum, Christopher T. Keith, George C. 
Wilson, Elisha S. Baggs, John B. TaUman, Ariel Ballou, 
John Boyden,* Thomas Vernon, O. F. Otis, Thomas S. Vail, 
George A. Willard, and Edward B. Hall. Many of these 
gentlemen, as well as others not named, were practical edu- 
cators ; some of them occupied influential positions of politi- 
cal trust, and all of them were ardently devoted to the objects 
of the Institute. They and their associates were pioneers in 
a cause that held out few popular inducements to become its 
advocates. Indeed, in many instances, personal popularity 
was jeopardized by their zealous devotion to a work which 
conflicted at once with prejudiced and contracted ideas of pri- 
vate and public duty. But they rose above the low ambitions 
of mere politicians. They kept before them the one great 
purpose of shedding the blessings of education upon the 
entire State, and employed every judicious agency at com- 
mand to carry forward their plans to completion. While 
some of their number have passed on to higher scenes, with- 
out witnessing the consummation of their desires, others of 
them still live to rejoice in a radical revolution of public 
opinion and practice, and especially in the commanding posi- 
tion our public schools now occupy in the hearts of the peo- 

* Rev. John Boyden was born in Sturbridge, Mass., May 14th, 1S09. An experi- 
ence in school teaching doubtless laid the foundation for the interest he subse- 
quently manifested in the cause of education. lie selected the Christian ministry 
for his profession, studied divinity with Rev. Hosea Ballou, of Boston, and was 
settled, successively, at Berlin, and Dudley, Mass., and AVoonsocket, R. I. To the 
latter place he removed in 1840, and became pastor of the Universalist Society. 
For many years he had charge of the public schools of Cumberland, as visiting 
and examining committee. He was an original member of the Rhode Island 
Institute of INSTRUCTION, and did much to promote its early prosperity. After 
the Normal School was established, he was chosen one of its trustees, ami dis- 
charged the duties of his office with scrupulous fidelity. As a citizen, Mr. Boyden 
was highly respected, and at different periods \\ as chosen to bear Representative 
and Senatorial honors in the General Assembly of Rhode Island, lie possessed a 
fine musical taste, and was the author of a Sunday school -inging book. lie died 
of pulmonary disease, September 28, 1869, in the cist year of his age, w idely and 
deeply lamented. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 107 

pie. The value of their unselfish labors, at a time when 
there was so much to be done and so few to do it, is beyond 
estimate. The advantages that those labors have already 
secured, and will perpetuate to future generations, cannot be 
mathematically determined. But when riches shall have be- 
come corrupted, and the gold and silver of selfish enterprise 
shall be cankered, and the rust thereof shall be a witness 
against its possessors, the memory of those who scattered 
broadcast the seeds of good knowledge, and laid the founda- 
tion of a generous culture, embracing without distinction the 
young of everv rank, will impart fragrance to the true o-l orv 
of the State. & 

In reviewing the work of the Institute, its members may 
justly feel that there is cause for congratulation. A glance 
at the summary of one hundred meetings, held in various 
parts of the State, will show that the Institute not onl v com- 
menced its labors with the advocacy of a Normal School, but 
has led public opinion in every movement originated for the 
improvement of our public school system. It early encour- 
aged the formation of Town and District Libraries, the in- 
troduction of Music into the public schools as an important 
element of culture, the establishing of a Board of Education, 
"by the aid of which the Public Schools would be safe from 
the influences of politics and the evils of sectarian preju- 
dices," and the opening of Evening Schools in our manufac- 
turing villages, to meet an imperative want of the operative 
population. 

It will also be noticed that the list of lecturers comprises 
many of the ablest educators in our country. It will likewise 
be seen that the range of topics considered at these meetings 
evinced a breadth of view not elsewhere surpassed, and 
touching every point vital to the advancement of our schools. 

A great work for Rhode Island has been done, and well 
done. For the encouraging results everywhere visible, much 
is due to the labors of a succession of able State Commis- 
sioners, much to the General Assembly for its liberal appro- 



108 HISTORY OF THE, 

priations in aid of Institute meetings, for increasing the cir- 
culation of the Rhode Island Schoolmaster, for the support 
of the Normal School, and for the encouragement of Evening 
Schools. A great work has been done by the Institute, by 
the Normal School, by the Board of Education, by earnest 
teachers, by faithful town and city school superintendents, 
and by no less faithful school committees. For all this the 
friends of education may thank God and take courage. 

But while a commendable pride may be indulged in view 
of the success of the past, it is by no means to be assumed 
that the mission of this Institution has been consummated, 
and that having witnessed an educational millennium, it may 
rest on its laurels, or disband as having no lield for further 
service. The millennium is not yet come. There is still dark- 
ness to be dispersed. Low ideas of intellectual culture re- 
main to be raised, by the force of intelligence, to a higher 
plane. The hygiene of the school-room is yet to be better 
understood. Teaching, as an art, admits of further improve- 
ment. The importance of moral instruction, its character 
and place, in our schools, is a question still demanding pro- 
found consideration, and the responsibilities of parents and 
of the State in securing to every child of suitable years a 
good practical education need yet to be made more plain 
and enforced with increased vigor. While man continues a 
progressive being, and each succeeding generation shows 
characteristics peculiarly its own, the methods of instruction 
must so far change as to answer the needs ot the changed 
condition of society. The day, therefore, i? far off in which 
the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction can feel author- 
ized to withdraw from the scenes of its past action and lay 
aside its armor. It will still work on, and by wise measures 
aid in carrying forward to its highest success the cause to 
which for thirty years it has been unweariedly devoted. 

In closing this outline of history, there is appropriateness 
in reaffirming the sentiments held by the Institute at its or- 
ganization, and expressed by its Executive Committee in its 
first annual report : 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 109 

" The importance of the education of the people — the object for which 
this Association was formed— cannot be estimated too highly. By the 
side of it most other public interests appear small and transitory. This 
stands out before every other, and challenges the attention and the efforts 
of all who would advance the present prosperity, or the future fortunes 
of the State. To train the lising generation to knowledge and virtue, to 
raise up intelligent and true-hearted citizens, who shall understand their 
rights and their duties, and shall guard the honor and the interests of 
society — these have always been regarded as the highest ends which en- 
lightened policy can aim to accomplish. But great and important as 
these objects are to every community, they assume a still greater import- 
ance to us as citizens of Rhode Island. Our prospei ity and progress as a 
Sovereign State — our position and our influence as members of this grow- 
ing confederacy of republics, must depend, not upon the extent of our 
territory, the number of our population, or the natural wealth of our 
soil, but upon the character of our citizens. It is this alone which can 
give us a voice in the councils of the nation, and a worthy name and 
place among the States of the Union. Our aim should therefore be, to 
be strong in high-minded, heroic men. These constitute a State; without 
them, no advantages of nature, no monuments of art, no battlements of 
physical force, no achievements of manufacturing or agricultural industry, 
will be able to maintain its honor, or perpetuate its renown." 




APPENDIX. 



CONSTITUTION. 



Adopted at a Public Meeting of the friends of Popular Edu- 
cation FROM ALL PARTS OF THE STATE, AT WESTMINSTER 

Hall, Providence, January 24, 1845. 



Article 1. This association shall he styled the " Rhode Island In- 
stitute of Instruction," and shall have for its object the improve- 
ment of public schools, and other means (if popular education in this 
State. 

Article 2. Any person residing in this State may become a member 
of the Institute by subscribing to this Constitution, (and contributing any 
sum towards defraying its incidental expenses.)* 

Article 3. The Officers of the Institute shall be a President, two or 
uiore Vice Presidents, a Recording Secretary, a Corresponding Secretary, 
a Treasurer, (with such powers and duties, respectively, as (heir several 
designations imply,) and Directors, who shall together constitute an 
Executive Committee. 

*. January 19, 1853, the Constitution was so amended as to allow persons to be- 
come members of the Institute without the payment of any fee. January 18, 
1972, it was voted that an annual tax of one dollar should be assessed on male 
members, and fifty cents on female members of the Institute. 



112 HISTORY OF THE 

Article 4. The Executive Committee shall carry into effect such 
measures as the Institute may direct; and for this purpose, and to pro- 
mote the general object of the Institute, may appoint special committees, 
collect and disseminate information, call public meetings for lectures and 
discussions, circulate books, periodicals and pamphlets on the subject of 
schools, school systems, and education generally, and perform such other 
acts as they may deem necessary or expedient, and make report of their 
doings to the Institute at its annual meeting. 

Article 5. A meeting of the Institute for the choice of Officers shall 
be held annually in the city of Providence, in the month of January, at 
such time and place as the Executive Committee may designate, in a 
notice published in one or more of the city papers; and meetings may 
be held at such other times and places as the Executive Committee may 
appoint. 

Article 6. This Constitution may be altered (or amended) at any 
annual meeting, by a majority of the members present, and any regula- 
tions not inconsistent with its provisions may be adopted at any meeting. 



CHARTER. 




State of Rhode Island, in General Assembly, 
January Session, A. D. 1863. 



AX ACT TO INCORPORATE THE RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF 
INSTRUCTION. 

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows : 

Section 1. Francis Wayland, Alexis Caswell, Moses B. Lock wood, 
Amos Perry, James Y. Smith, Shubael Hutchins, John Kingsbury, Samuel 
S. Greene, E. M. Stone, A. W. Godding, C. T. Keith, A. A. Gamwell, 
John Boyden, Daniel Leach, Emory Lyon, George A. Willard, B. V. 
Gallup, William A. Mowry. Alexander Duncan, S. A. Potter, Joshua 
Kendall, Henry Rousmaniere, J. T. Edwards, J. H. Tefft, M. S.Greene, 
W. B. Cook, I. F. Cady, Samuel Austin, A. J. Manchester, J. J. Ladd, 
N. W. DeMunn, F. B. Snow, Thomas Davis, A. C. Robbins, D. R. 
Adams, Joseph Eastman, H. M. Rice, T. W. Bickn2ll, Samuel Thurber, 
H. N. Slater, Edward Harris, A. J. Foster, J. M. Ross, F. J. Belden, 
Thomas Shepard, E. R. Potter, J. B, Chapin, and such others as now 
are, or hereafter may be, associated with them, be, and they are hereby 
constituted, created and made a body politic and corporate with perpet- 
ual succession, by the name and style of "The Rhode Island Insti- 
tute of Instruction, 11 with full powers to make and ordain, alter and 
amend, such by-laws and regulations for their government, as they may 
think necessary, the same not being contrary to the laws of the Slate; 
and they are empowered by the aforesaid name, to sue and be sued, to 

plead and be impleaded, to hold and enjoy any kind of real or personal 
15 



114 CHARTER. 

estate, to an amount not exceeding ten thousand dollars, whether ob- 
tained by gift, demist!, purchase, or otherwise, and to dispose of and con- 
vey the same at pleasure, to have and use a common seal, which they 
may alter or change as they may think proper. 

Sec. 2. The officers elected under tin; following Constitution, or who 
may be elected in accordance with its provisions, shall be the officers of 
the Institute until the next annual meeting, and until others are elected 
in their places, and the following shall be the Constitution of the Insti- 
tute, until it shall be duly altered or amended as is therein provided.* 

I certify the foregoing to be a true copy. 

In testimony whereof, I have* hereunto set my hand and 
affixed the seal of the State, this eighteenth day of 
November, a d. 1872. 

JOSHUA M. ADDEMAN, 

Secretary of State. 

* For copy of Constitution see two preceding pages. 



KIIODE ISLAND SCHOOLMASTER, PAGE 95. 



In November, 1874, arrangements . were made t>> merge the Schoolmaster, the 
3/assachusetts Teacher, the Maine Journal of Education, and the Connecticut School 
j, in nmi, into one paper, quarto form, of sixteen pages, to he called The New Kmjland 
Journal of Education, Its editor will be Hon. Thomas W. Bicknell. Mr. David W. 
Hoyt, Principal of the English and Scientific Department of the Providence High 
School, represents Rhode Island as Counsellor on the Board of Directors. The 
Journal will have a local department for Rhode Island, of which Mr. Thomas B. 
Stockwell, of the Classical Department, Providence High School, will he editor. 



OFFICERS OF THE INSTITUTE 



SINCE ITS ORGANIZATION IN 1845. 



PRESIDENTS. 



John Kingsbury, 
Samuel S. Greene, 
John J. Ladd, 
William A. Mowry, 
Thomas W. Bicknell, 
Noble W. DeMnnn, 
James T. Edwards, 
Albeit J. Manchester, 
Merrick Lyon, 
Isaac F. Cady, 



*Wilkins Updike, 

Ariel Ballon, 

C. G. Perry, - 

Thomas Shepard, 

John J. Kilton. 

Elisha K. Potter, Jr. 

Jesse S. Tourtellot, 
*A. H. Dumont, 

J. W. Cooke, - 
*John Hoyden, Jr., - 
*Elisha Harris, 

Robert Allyn, 

T. H. Vail, - 
*S. A. Crane, 

Thomas R. Hazard, 

John Kingsbury, - 
*Albert A. Gamwell. 

William A. Mowry, 



VICE PRESIDENTS. 



1845 to 1856. 
1856 to 1860. 
1860 to 1864. 
1864 to 1866. 
1866 to ?8B8. 

1868 to 1869. 

1869 to 1670. 

1870 to 1872. 
1872 to 1874. 
1874 to 



1845 to 1847. 

1845 to 1850. 

1846 to 1848. 
1846 to I860. 

1846 to 1850. 

1847 to 1860. 

1847 to 1848. 

1848 to I860. 
1848 to 1850. 
1850 to 1870. 
1850 to 1860. 

1855 to 1858. 

1856 to 1858. 

1856 to I860 

1857 to 1860. 

1858 to 1860. 
1860 to 1872. 

1860 to 1861.— 1862 to 1864.— 1868 to 1-70. 



116 HISTORY OF THE 

Samuel Austin, - - - 1860 to 1868.— 1872 to 1873. 

Esaac F. ( lady, 1860 to 1862.— 1864 to 1866.— 1868 to 1871.— 1872 to 1874. 
Joshua Kendall, .... 1801 to 1865. 

Noble W. DeMunn, - - 1861 to 1862.— 1870 to 1871. 

*IIenry R Pierce, .... 1861 to 1862. 

George A. Wil lard, .... 1861 to 1868. 

Benjamin V. Gallup, - 1861 to 1862.— 1864 to 1865.— 1866 to 1868. 

J. II. Tefft, ----- 1862 to 1873. 

Dwight R. Adams, - 1863 to 1870. 

James M. Ross, ----- 1864 to 1867. 
Benjamin F. Hayes, - 1864 to 1866. 

Benjamin F. Clarke, - 

David W.Hoyt, - - - 1865 to 1871.— 1872 to 

Charles B. Goff, ----- 1865 to 1868. 
Thomas W. Bicknell, •- - - 1865 to 1866.— 187o to 

Samuel Thurber, ----- 1865 to 1866. 
Henry S. Latham, - 1«65 to 1868. 

Joshua B. Chapin, - 1-66 to 1871. 

John J. Ladd, - - - 1866 to 1867.— 186H to 1870. 

Edwin M. Stone, - - - 1866 to 1871.— 1872 to 

M. J. Talbot, - - - - 1866 to 1867. 

James T. Edwards, - 18G6 to 1869. 

William II. Bowen, ... - 1866 to 1868. 

H. S. Shearman, - 

G. B. Inman, ----- 1866 to 1868. 

Daniel Leach, ----- 18(>7 to 

Samuel S. Greene, - 1867 to 1870 

A. Sherman, ----- 1867 to 1868. 

M. A. Aldrich, - 1867 to 1869. 

J. W. R. Marsh, ----- 1867 to 1869. 
H. W. Clarke, - 1867 to 1874. 

W. E. Tolni.in, ----- 1867 to 1871. 
P. E. Tillinghast, - 1867 to 1868. 

F. W. Tilton, - - - 1868 to 1872.— 1874 to 

W. W. Warner. - 1868 to 1870. 

Levi W. Russell, - - - 1869 to 1871.— 1872 to 

James M.Sawin, - 1869 to 1871. 

T H. Clarke, - - 1869 to 1871.— 1873 to 

Albert J. Manchester, - - - - 1870 to 1871. 

Merrick Lyon, ----- 1870 to 1872. 
J. C. Stockbridge, ... - 1870 to 1873. 

Thomas B. Stockwell, .... 1870 to 

E.K.Parker, - - - 1870 to 1874. 

G. E Whittemore, - - - 1871 to 1872. 
P. E. Bishop, ... . 1871 to 1872. 
J. S.Eastman, - - - - 1871 to 

J. C.Greenouiih, - - - 1872 to 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 



117 



A. D. Small, .... 

J. Milton Hall, 

Sarah E. Doyle, - - - - 

M. E. Morse. 

O. P. Fuller, .... 

Sarah Dean, - 

Lizzie Brown, .... 

Edwin II. King. ... 

Benoni Carpenter, - - - - 

N. W. Littlefiekl, 

R. S. Andrews, - 

Ira O Seamans, 

F. W. Wing, ..... 

Ellen M. Haskell, 

H. M. Hunt, .... 

Lysander Flagg, 

Julia Lefavour, - 

J. M. Brewster, 

CORRESPONDING SECRETARIES 

Nathan Bishop, - 
Amos Perry, - 
Zwinglius Grover, - 
Alvah W. Godding, 
Albert J Manchester, 



1872 to 
1872 to 
1872 to 
1872 to 
1872 to 

1872 to 

1873 to 
1873 to 
1873 to 
1873 to 
1873 to 

1873 to 

1874 to 
1874 to 
1874 to 
1874 to 
1874 to 
1874 to 



1874. 

1874. 
1873. 
1873. 

1874. 
1874. 
1874. 



1874. 



Dwight R. Adams, 
Eli H. Howard, 



1845 to 1848. 
1848 to 1851. 
1851 to 1855.— 1856 to 1858. 
1858 to 1865. 
18(55 to 1870. 
1870 to 1874. 
- 1874 to 



TREASURERS. 



Thomas C Hartshorn, 
Amos Perry, 
Christopher T. Keith, 
Noble W. DeMunn, 
B. V. Gallup, 



RECORDING SECRETARIES. 



Joshua D. Giddings, 
Christopher X. Keith, 
Caleb Farnum, 
Albert A Gam well, 
Alvah W. Godding, 
Edward II. Magill, 
Francis B. Snow, 
Alvin C. Bobbins, - 
Thomas B. Stockwell, 
J. E. Parker. 
Frank G- Morley, 



1845 to 1852. 
1853 to 1856. 
1856 to 1862. 
1862 to 1868. 
1868 to 



1845 to 
1848 to 

1850 to 

1851 to 
1854 to 
1858 to 
1860 to 
1862 to 
1866 to 

1870 to 

1871 to 



1848. 
1850. 
1851. 
1854. 
1858. 
1860. 
1862. 
1866. 
1870. 
1871. 
1872. 



118 



HISTORY OF THE 



G. E. Whittemore, 
Lester A. Freeman, 



1872 to 1874. 
1874 to 



DIKECTOKS. 



William Gammell, 
James T. Sisson, 
John B. Tallman, - 
Latimer W. Ballon*, 
Samuel S. Greene, 
James T. Harkness, 
Jesse S. Tourtellot, 
Amos Perry, - 
Caleb Farnum, 
George C. Wilson, 
WilliamS. Baker, - 
Thomas R. Hazard, 
*John Boyden, Jr., 
Nathan Bishop, 
Thomas H. Vail, - 
Sylvester Patterson, 
Samuel Austin, 
C. G. Perry, - 
J. Bushee, 
Thomas Shepard, 
*Albert A. Gamwell. 
George W. Qnereau, 
George A. Willard, - 
Edmund Gray, Jr., 
Nathaniel B. Cooke, 
*John H. Willard. 
Orin F. Otis, 
*Dana P. Colburn, 
William II. Farrar, 
John Kingsbury, 
Daniel Leaeh, 
Edward H. Magill, 
Thomas G. Potter, 
C. C. Beaman, 
Edwin M. Stone, - 
E. Grant, 

Lucius A. Wheelock, 
Charles Hutchins, 
William G. Crosby, 
J. B. Breed, - 
Merrick Lyon, 
Albert J. Manchester, 



1845 to 1847 
1845 to 1848 



1847 to 1848. 



1845 to 1860. 
1845 to 1848.— 1854 to 1855. 
1815 to 1848. 
1845 to 1848. 
1845 to 1848.— 1852 to 1856. 
1845 to 1846. 
-1848 to 1855. 
-1856 to 1862. 

1845 to 1850. 

1846 to 1857. 
1846 to 1850. 
1846 to 1856. 

-1856 to 1858. 
1848 to 1852. 
1848 to 1857. 
1848 to 1860. 
1848 to 1860. 
1848 to 1855. 
1848 to 1855. 
1848 to 1850. 

1854 to 1860. 

1855 to 1860. 
1855 to 1860. 
1855 to 1858. 
1855 to 1861. 
1855 to 1860. 
1855 to 1860. 
1855 to 1860. 

1855 to 1857. 

1856 to 1858. 
1856 lo 1860. 
1856 lo 1858. 

1856 to 1860. 

1857 to 1858. 
1857 to 1866. 

1857 to 1858. 

1858 to 1860. 
1858 to 1859. 
1858 to 1860. 
J 858 to 1860. 
lhTl to 
1872 to 



1858 to 1869 
1860 to 1862 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 



Ill) 



Millen S. Greene, - 
William A. Mowry, 
Isaac F. Cady, 
Joseph S. Eastman, 
Howard M. Rice, - 
Francis B. Snow, 
Thomas Davis, 
James T. Edwards, 
Thomas W. Bicknell, 
Alvan 0. Bobbins, 
J. M. Collins, 
Benjamin F. Clarke, 
W. E. Woodbridge, 
Frederic W. Tilton, 
Dwight R. Adams, - 
J. R Davenport, 
J. Q. Adams, 
H. W. Clarke, 
F. G. Morley, 
J. T. Durfee, - 
L. C. Greene, 
T. H. Clarke, 
*Osceola H. Kile, - 
A. J. Lincoln, 
W. E. Tol man, - 
E. H. Howard, 
Sarah E. Doyle, - 
H. A. Benson, 
A. G. Chace, 
Mary A. Riley, 
William A. Phillips, 
George W. Cole. 
Susan C Bancroft, 
Emory Lyon, - 
Alonzo Williams, - 
Mrs. G. E. Whittemore, 
Mrs C. Barker, - 
Henry a. Wood, 
T. D. Blakeslie, - 
Stephen C Irons, 



1860 to 1866. 
1861 to 1862.— 1866 to 

1862 to 1870. 

1861 to 1866. 

1862 to 1864. 
1862 to 1867. 

1862 to 1866. 

1863 to 1865. 
1863 to 1866.— 1868 to 1869. 

1866 to 
1866 to 1867. 

1866 to 1868. 

1867 to 1868. 

1868 to 1870. 
1868 to 1870— 1874 to 

1870 to 1872. 

1870 to 1874. 
1870 to 1871.— 1874 to 
1870 to 187L— 1872 to 

1870 to 1874. 

1870 to 1871. 

1871 to 1872. 
1871 to 1874. 
1871 to 1872. 
1871 to 

1871 to 1874. 

1872 to 
1872 to 

1872 to 1873. 
• - 1873 to 

- 1873 to 1874. 

1873 to 

1874 to 
1874 to 
1874 to 
1874 to 
1874 to 
1874 to 
1874 to 
1874 to 



LIST OF MEMBERS 



FROM 1845 TO 1874. 



[Explanation.— The names of the founders of the Institute, so far as ascer- 
tained, are suffixed with a f. An asterisk (*) is prefixed to the names of deceased 
members. Probably the Necrology is much larger than indicated by the sign. 
The location of each teacher is th.tt given in signing the Constitution. Possibly 
errors in christian names may have occurred. If any such are discovered, the 
author will be grateful for the information.] 



Allen, Zachariahf 
*Adams, Seth Jr.f 

Aborn, Josephf 

Austin, Samuelf 
*Atwater, Slephenf 

Aldrich, Harris W. (1849.) 

Austin, Sarah 

Andrews, Caroline F. 

Allen, Christopherf 

Adams, Dwight R. 

Aldrich, Mary J. 

Allyn, Robert Rev. 

Allen, Hiram 

Angell, Nehemiah A. 

Arnold, S. B 

Aliny, Pel eg 

Allen, Sarah 

Andrews, R. S. 

Arnold, Rufus, 

Allen, Edward A. H. 

Anthony, Joseph (1849) 

Aldrich, Melda 

Aldrich, Wilmarth N.f 

Adams, J. Q. 



Providence, 



Previous to 1872. 



North Provi lence, 

Centreville, 

Slatersville, 

East Greenwich, 

Woonsocket, 

Nor tli Scituate, 

Woonsocket, 

Tiverton, 

Woonsocket, 

Bristol, 

Woonsocket, 

New Bedford, Mass., 

Newport, 

Cumberland, 

Providence, 

Natick, 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OP INSTRUCTION. 



121 



Arnold, M. W.f Providence, 

Ames, John,f 

Aldrieh, Rebecca 

Angell, Nancy W. 

Allen, Charles L. 

Adams, Effie 

Balch, John Jr.f 

Bicknell, Thomas W. 

Baker, William S.f 

Bradley. Charles S. 
*Brown John Carter 

Bray ton, George A.f 
*Barstow, John 

Barstow, Amos C (1849) 

Barker, James T.f 

Belden, C. Dwight 

Branch, S.f 

Bishop, P. E. 

Barnard, Henryf 

Bishop, Nathan, f 

Belden, Stanton (1849) 

Ballon, Arielf 

Bennett, Charles (1860) 

Bowen, Israel M. 

Baggs, Elisha L.f 

Bates, C. G. 

Belden, Francis S. 

Browning, Joseph L. 

Bates, Benoni 

Burlingame, Ann E. 

Burgess, Martha D.f 
*Bowen, Estherf 
*Brown. Fennerf 

Barber, Mary F. (1860) 

Bentley, George M. 

Borden, Pailey E. 
*Bosworth, Alfredf 

Barber. P. M. 2d. (1860) 

Babcock, John W. (1860) 

Babcock, Charles H. (1860) 

Babcock, Samuel A. (1860) 

Burdick, Benjamin B. (I860) 

Burdick, Mary E. (1860) 

Burlingame, Nancy M. (1860) Woonsocket 

Brown, Melissa B. (I860) 

Brown. Betsey J. (1860) 

Benson, II. A. " 

IS 



Previous to 1872. 



Slatersville, 

Pascoag, 

Tiverton, 

Bristol, 

Providence, 



Warwick, 
Providence, 



Paw tucket, 

Hartford, Conn., 

New York, 

North Providence, 

Woonsocket, 

Westerly, 

Johnston, 

Exeter, 

Coventry Centre, 

Chicago, 

Charlestown, 

Coventry, 

River Point, 

Providence, 



Westerly, 

Manville, 
Wai-ren, 
Ashaway, 
Westerly, 



122 



HISTORY OF THE 



Bushee, James 
*Boyden, Rev. John Jr. f 
Buft'inn, Sarah A. 
Ballou, Latimer W.f 

Ballon. George C. 
*Burgess, Thomas.f 

Brown, Lucius 

Brown, Esther E. 

Benson, Marion A. 

Berry, Charles P. 

Endlong, M. E. 

Chase, Rebecca E. 

Caswell, Al exisf 

Currey, Samuelf 

Clarke, George L.f 

Clarke, Edwardf 

Cooper, Larkin A. 

Carpenter, Elizabeth B. 

Clarke, Benjamin F. 

Cutler, Edward H. 
Cooke, Willis 
Coggeshall, S. W. 
Cooper, Varnum A. 
Camming, Anna 
Carpenter, Charles F. 
Clarke, Henry 
Coats, Charles 
Chapman, J. (I860) 
Chapin. Ruth E. (1860) 
Cottrell, Charles T. (1860) 
Clark, Elisha P. (1860) 
Chapin, Thomas B. (1860) 
Collins, A. B. (I860) 
Church, Nelson K. 
Cole, George W. 
Cady, Isaac F. 
Collins, James M. 
Cooke, N. B. 
Carpenter, Alice H. 
Collins. Sns:m E. 
*Colburn, Dana P. (1849) 
Caskill. Edward B. 
Cragin, Frances M. 
Congdon. M. Frances 
Congdon, Lydia E. 
Carpenter. Ellen 
Chase, John F. 



Woonsocket, 



Providence, 

Fall River, Mass., 

Summit, 

Millville, 

Chepichet, 

Cumberland, 

Providence, 



Previous to 1872. 



Woonsocket, 

Nashua, N. H., 

Woonsocket, 

Coventry, 

Pawtucket, 

North Stonington, Conn., 

Westerly, 



Rockville. 

Westerly, 
it 

Usquepaugb, 
Valley Falls, 
Barrington Centre, 
Westerly, 
Bristol, 

Seekonk, Mass., 
Phenix, 
Providence, 
Woonsocket. 
Providence, 

Woonsocket, 
Cumberland, 
Tiverton, 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 



123 



Cook, Rev. T. D. 

Doyle, Sarah E. 

Dean, Sarah 

Day, Henryf 

Dixon, Nathan F.f 

Duncan, Alexander! 

DeMunn, Noble W. 

Davis, Thomas 

Darling, T. S. 

Davis, Franklin H. (1860) 

Davis, Oliver (I860) 

Darrow, E. R. 
*Dumont, Rev. A. H.f 
*Dyer, Benjaminf 
*D wight, Garni iel L. (1849) 

Dyer, Sarah E. 

Dyer, Maria E. 

Esten, M. L. 

Esten, Amasa Jr. 

Ewins. Margaret, 

Earle, Catherine 

Eddy, Richard E.f 

Evans, Thomas Of 

Edwards, James T. 

Edwards, Richard, 

Esten, Rhoda A. 

Eddy, Cornelia (1860) 

Fisher, Ellen 
*Field, Laura E. 

Fowler, Ezekiel 

Farnum, Calebf 

Fry, Minerva A. 

Fisher, Weston A.f 

Foster, A. J. (1860) 

Gallup, Benjamin V. 

Gammell, Williamf 

Giddings, Joshua D.f 

Greene, Samuel S. (1849) 

Godding, Alvah W. 

Guild, Martha J. 

Greene, J. B. 

Gory, Arnold W. 
Grovei, Zwingliusf 

Gray, Edward Jr. 
Greene, Carrie 
Greene, Eliza C. 

Gorton, Jason W. 



Providence, 



Previous to 1872. 



North Providence, 

Woonsocket, 

Westerly, 



Newport, 
Providence, 

Knightsville, 
Providence, 

Slatersville, 

Providence, * 
Woonsocket, 
Providence, 
Chepachet, 
East Greenwich, 
Normal School, Illinois, 
North Scituate, 
Westerly, 
Woonsocket, 
Providence, 
Woonsocket, 
Providence, 
Woonsocket, 
Providence, 
Westerly, 
Providence, 



Chepachet, 

Providence, 

Tiverton Four Corners, 

Chepachet, 

Summit, 



124 



HISTORY OF THE 



Greene, Samuel 
Greene, Susan M. 
Gorton, Hannah II. 

Greene, John T. 

Gruber, Frances 

Greenman, B. F. 

Gorton, Ahbie A. 

Gallup, Sarah B. 

Gay, Helen F. 
*Gamwell, Albert A.f 
*Greene, Phebe A. 
*Hutchins, Shubaelf 

Howard, E. II. 

Harkness, Albertf 

Haskell, Ellen M. 

Helme, Harriet J. 

Haskell, Ruth A. 

Hoyt, David W. 

Haile, Levi 

Hendriek, C. A. 

Hendriek, Fanny 
*Hanis, Edward 

Harkness, Hiram 

Harkness, James T. 

Hull, Harriet K. 

Hazard, Thomas P.f 

Hall, Charles II. (J860) 

Hazard, Harriet C. (1860) 

Hoxie, George W. (1860) 

Hinkley, Charles H. (1860) 

Hutchins, Charles 

Hammett, John L. 

Hopkins. Rev. George O. 

Hoag, Emily 

Hicks, Charles R. 

Hill, Byron R. 

Holt. EmmaF. 

Howard, Henry 

Harvey, Resolved 

Hoag, Caroline D. 

Holmes, Harvey * 

Holmes, Mary E. 

Holdredge, Geo. W. (1849) 

Haines. T. V. 

Ives, Robert II. f 

*lves, Moses B.f 

Ingalls, Elkanah 



Woonsocket, 

Bristol, 
Warwick, 
Coventry, 
Providence, 
Charlestovvn, 
Eseoheag, 
Collamer, Conn. 
Davisville, 
Providence, 



Previous to 1872. 



Warren, 

Woonsocket, 



Smithfield, 

Kingston, 

Westerly, 

Shannock Mills. 

Westerly, 

Providence, 

North Scituate, 

Lonsdale, 

Fall River, Mass., 

Cranston, 

Blackstone, Mass., 

Phenix, 

Coventry, 

Woonsocket, 

Bristol, 

North Stonington, Conn. 

Croinpton, 
Providence, 

Cranston, 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 



125 



Jencks, Mary T. 

Jennings, John 

Kingsbury, Johnf 

Keith, Christopher T.f 

King, Mary 

Kent, William S. 

Kent, John R. 

Kenyon, Peleg 

Keith, William S. 

Kendall, Joshua 

Kenyon, Henry B. 

Knapp, Mary A. 

Kimball, D. W. 

Reach, Clovis E. 
*Kile, O. H. 

Knowles, Horatio N. Jr. 

King, E. A. 
*Lawton, Edward W.f 

Leach, Rev. Daniel (1856) 

Lyon, Merrickf 

Lyon, Emory, 

Latham, Cornelia W. 

Lewis. Celia J. 
*Lockwood, Moses B.f 
Larkin, R. S. (1860) 
Lewis, Mary C. 
Lewis, Nathan B. 
Lincoln, A. J. 
Ladd, John J. (1860) 
LeCard, George 
Malteson, Benjamin W. 
Mowry, William A. (1859) 
Metcalf, Edwinf 
*Mason, Owenf 
May, Amasa 
Miles, Amanda 
Mowry, Jenks A.f 
Metcalf, William 
Morley, Frank G. 
Munroe, Abby D. 
Matteson, Braman W. 
Maxon, Abby M. (1860) 
Maxon, Charlotte A. (1860) 
Maxon. Charles A. (1860) 
Mann, Ilev. Joel 
Manchester, Georgef 
Morse, Guilford 



Paw tucket, 

Woonsocket, 

Providence, 



North Scituate, 

Phenix, 

Hopkinton, 

River Point, 

Bristol, 

Alton, 

Chepachet, 

Woonsocket, 

Burrillville, 

Westerly, 

Wakefield, 

Pascoag, 

Newport, 

Providence, 



Previous to 1872. 



Westerly, 
Providence. 
Exeter, 
Coventry, 
Providence, 
Coventry, 

Providence, 



Woonsocket, 
Bristol, 

Coventry, 
Westerly, 



Kingston, 

South Portsmouth, 

Springfield, Mass., 



126 



HISTORY OF THE 



Magill, Edward H. 
Mason, Ambrose B. 
Monroe. ClaTa E. 
Macomber, Joseph E 
*Meggeite, M. M. 
Meader, A. A. 
Miller, Maria F. (1860) 
Miner, G. II. (I860) 
*Nash, H. C. 
Newell, George E. 
Niles, Julia A., 
Nichols, Celia A. 
Nichols, Helen A. 
Newbury. Sarah (1860) 
Osborn, Sarah 
Osborn, Esther 
Osgood, Rev Samuel f 
Osgood, J. Anna 
Olney, Johnf 
Pitman, Joseph S.f 
Perry, Amosf 
*Patten, William S.f 
Purkis, Sarah A. 
Phelon, Rev. Benjamin 
Padelford, Adelaide D. 
Perrin, Mrs. Daniel 
Potter, Hon. Elisha R.f 
Parker, James E. 
*Peck, Allen O.f 
Pendleton, Anne L. (1860) 
Pendleton, Kate (1860) 
Pendleton, Sarah E (1860) 
Perrin, Alice (1860) 
Potter, J. B. 
Phillips, S. 

Peckham, Anginette (1860) 
Palmer, Hannah (1860) 
Prosser, P. S. 
Page, Maria W. 
Page, Susan A. 
Payne, Nancy A. 
Place, II. Lester 
Potter, S. A. 
Potter, Thomas G. 
Paine, Minerva J. 
Pickett, Horace W. 
Porter, Aaron 



Providence, 

Warren, 

Manville, 

Portsmouth, 

Woonsocket, 

Cumberland, 

Allenton, 

Westerly. 

Portland, Me. 

Pawtucket, 

Woonsocket, 

Greene, 

Providence, 

Westerly, 

Woonsocket, 

Providence, 



Previous to lb?*<s. 



South Kingstown, 
Johnston, 
Providence, 
Westerly, 



Gi'eene, 
Georgiaville, 
Westerly, 
Stonington, Conn., 
Carolina Mills, 
Pascoag, 



Mt. Vernon, R. I. 

Providence, 
East Providence, 
Slatersville, 
Tiverton, 
Bristol, 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 



12: 



North Blackstone, 
Slatersville, 

East Greenwich, 
Westerly, 

Bristol, 
Richmond, 
Fisherviile, 
Providence, 



Park, Mary F. Woonsocket, 

Paine, Julia A. " 

Paine, Cordelia E. " 

Pitts, Susie A. <« 

Paine, S. Madeline 

Paine, Minnie J. 

Q.uereau, G W. 

Robinson, J. H. (I860) 

Reynolds, Benjamin (1860) 

Rich, Ezekiel 

Reynolds, Russell W. 

Ralph, Betsey T. 

Rodman, Samuelf 

Rath bun, Mary E. 

Russell, Levi W. " 

Remington, Frances A. " 

Robbins, Alvin C. Mill vi lie ss , 

Ray, Joel R. Providence, 

Stone, Rev. Edwin M. (1848) 

Stock well, Thomas B. 

Steere, Mattie C. " 

Smith, James Y. " 

Smith, Lewis B. « 

Seagraves, Joseph " 

Steoent, Phebe A.f " 

Scammell, S. S. " 

Stanton, Kate S. " 

Stivers, John H. " 

Spencer, H. L. " 

Sheldon, Jeremiahf " 

Sawin, James M. " 

Stebbins, Fannie " 

Stockbridge, Rev. J. C. " 

Sheldon, Williamf 

Stillman, Mary A (1860) Westerly, 

Stillman, Harriet W. (1860) 

Stillman, James (I860) 

Saunders, T. C. (1860) Potter's Hill, 

Sayles, William R. Cumberland Hill, 

Seamans, Laytun E. Coventry, 

Sisson, Asa Anthony, 

Seagrave, A. R. Uxbridge, Mass., 

Staples, Thomas B. Slatersville, 

Shumway, Annie M. Pascoag, 

Stamfield, 15. B. 

Slade, Georgianna A. " 



Previous to 1872. 



128 



HISTORY OF THE 



Shumway, Mary E. 

Smith, Eliza 

Spencer, H. L. 

Steere, Diana J. 

Stecre. Joanna A. 

Steere, William A. 

Spencer, D. P. 

Sheffield, William P.f 

Stone, Harriet A. (1860) 

Stanton, Charles 

Stone, Hiram 

Slocmn, Mrs. Z. O. 

Steere, Laura M. 

Steere, Fannie M. 

Shaw, Jedediah 
*Stone, James L. (1849) 

Sisson, Joseph T.f 

Slater. Horatio X.f 

Stone, Dexter S. 

Seamans, Ira O. 

Shaw, Emma 

Shaw, Mary C 

Shepard, Rev. Thomasf 

Stimson, John J. 

Sheffield, Hannah (1860) 

Sayles, Henry C. 

Scott, Livingston 

Salisbury, Phebe A. 

Spencer, Lydia C. 

Talcotf, James M. 

Tingley, L. Sophia 

Tourtellot, Jesse S.f 
♦Tillinghast, George S. 
*Tillinghast, George H.f 

Tillinghast, Joseph 

Tallman, John B.f 

Thurber, Samuel 

Thayer, Lucy A. 

Thompson, 1'hebeH. (1860) 

Thompson, Benjamin E. (1860) 

Taylor, John A. (1860) 

Tillinghast, E. A. 

Tefft, J. H- 

Tolman, W. E. 

Tyler, Susan A.f 
*Tobey. Samuel B.f 

Taft, Mary E. Blackstone, 



Paseoag, 
Providence, 

Anthony, 
Woonsocket, 



Peace Dale, 

Newport, 

Stonington, Conn., 

North Stonington, Conn.. 

Foster, 

Chepachet, 

Manton, 

Little Compton, 

Providence, 

North Providence, 

Providence, 

Philadelphia, Pa., 

Phenix, 

Thompson, Conn., 

Centreville. 

Bristol, 

Providence, 

Westerly. 

Woonsocket, 

Lime Rock, 

Warwick, 

Providence, 

Glocester, 

Foster, 
Providence, 
Summit, 
Woonsocket, 
Providence, 
New Boston, Conn.. 
Wester !y, 



Coventry, 
Kingston, 
Pawtucket, 
Providence, 



Previous to 1872. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION 



129 



Taft, B P. 
*Updike, Wilkinsf 

Vincent, Thomas 

Vernon, Thouaast 

Verry, Perley 

Varney. George F. 

Vose, E. F. (1860) 

Wardwell, George T. 
* Way land, Rev. Francisf 

Woods, Rev. Alva 

Webb, Rev. Samuel H. 

Waterman, Emily F. 

Westeott, S. Lizzie 

Whipple, Amasa 0. 

Whittemore. Gilbert E. 

Wood, Henry A. 

Williams, II. W. 

Williams, Albert S. 

Winsor, Nancy W. 

Wheeloek, Lucius A. (1849 

Wilson, George C. 

Waldron, W. H. 

Walden, Elizabeth F. 

Wade, Mrs. James 

White. Abbie M. 

Wood, Allen F. 

Wynn. Mary 

Woodbridge, Win. H. Jr. ( 
♦Young, Edward R.f 

Young L. R.f 



II. 



Burrillville, 

Providence. 
Westerly , 
Providence, 
Woonsocket. 
Sandwich, N. 
Westerly, 
AVoonsocnet, 
Providence, 



Attleboro. Mass. 
Providence, 
East Greenwich 
Foster, 

North Foster, 
Greenville, 
Providence, 
Manville, 
Pascoag, 
Chepachet, 
Pascoag, 
Burrillville, 
River Point, 
Pascoag, 
1860) Westerly, 
Provideuce, 



Previous to 1872. 



Allen, Stelia C. 
Alden, Sarah C. 
Angell, Sarah C 
Arnold, Dr. S. Augustus 
Allen, Juliet A. 
Allen, Mrs. Henry 
Adams, Mary C. B. 
Armington, Hattie A. 
Arnold, Gertrude E. 
Adams, Annie J. 
Austin. Emily C. 
*Alvord, Caleb M. 
Allen, Jane H. 
Allen, Hattie A. 
Arnold, Elveton Jr., 
17 



Providence, 



January 1872. 



Pawtuxet, 
Woonsocket, 
Pawtucket, 
Summit, 

East Greenwich. 
Cranston, 
Blackstoue, Mass. 
North Kingstown, 



130 

Avery, Miss A E. 
Anthony, Mary E. 
Andrews, Miss E. E. 
Anthony, Susan E. 
Armstrong, Lydia 
Allen, Daniel G. 
Albro, Christopher 1). 
Ahny, Margaret G. 
Arnold, Francis E. 
Anthony, Albert L. 
Bacon. Sarah J. 
Beane. Elsie A. 
Bartlett, Mary E. 
Brown, Allen 
Bolster, Jerome B. 
Bell, George 
Bucklin, II. Anna C. 
Babcock, M. A us tan ia 
Bancroft, Susan C. 
Bartlett, Addie A. 
Brown, Ella A. 
Babcock, Jennie H. 
Buffington, Geraldine 
Babcock, S. A. 
Briggs, Stephen A. 
Bodfish, Joshua L. 
Baker, Sarah 
Ballou, Desire F. 
Bates, Benoni 
Brown, Arthur W. 
Bowen, Susan K. 
Burlingame, William C. 
Brown, Annie S. 
Bosworth. Rebecca T. 
Boss, Lizzie C. 
Brown, Lizzie 
Bates. C G. 
Barker, Mrs. C J. 
Bueklyn, John K. 
Bates, John A. 
Ballon, Amanda J. 
Brown, Ella M. 
Bowen, J. A. 
Bowen, L. A. 
Brown, Ann E. 
Bowen, Fanny W. 
Brown, Ellen M. 



HISTORY OF THE 
Providence, 



North Kingstown, 

Portsmouth, 

Newport, 

Jamestown, 

Swansey, Ma<s., 

Providence ; 



January, 1873. 



ti i' 



January, 1872. 



Spragueville. 

Westerly, 

Warren, 

North Stonington, Conn., 

Stonington Conn., 

East Greenwich, 

Lonsdale, 

Coventry, 

Midilletown, 

Summit, 

Cumberland Hill, 

Pawtuxet, 

Newport, 

Pawtucket, 

Coventry Centre, 

Tiverton, 

Mystie Bridge, Conn., 

West Greenwich Centre, 

Georgiaville, 

Harmony, 

Boston, 

East Greenwich, 

Tiverton, 

South Attleboro', 

Providence, 



January, 1873. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 



131 



Behan Ann M. 
Belden, C. Dwight 
Bellows, L. M. 
Brown, Isadore 

Barker, C. W. 
Bates, Nellie 
Bartlett, AddieM. 
Bryant, 8. Fannie 
Bryant. Addie G. 
Bates, Hattie N. 
Bo wen, Helen M. 
Barnes. Irene C. 
Bailey, Thomas T. 
Barber, Lizzie 
Burlingame, N. M. 
Barrows, Sarah 
Barber. A. E. 
Brown, M. A. 
Bowen. Hannah 
Brown, Sarah W. A. 
Barrows. L. A. 
Blakeslee, T. D. 
Carpenter, Elizabeth B. 
Cooke, Emma E. 
Carrigan, Helen A. 
Case, Mattie 
Cross, F. E. 
Chase, Elizabeth J. 
Chase, William E. 
Cardner, Edwin R. 
Chillson. Henry 
Church, Mary E. 
Chappell, Sarah J. 
Cook, Helen M. 
Cunliff, Eliza P. 
Coggeshall, Belle J. 
Cornel], Imogene R. 
Collins, Amy F. 
Chase, Anna P. 
Clarke, Minnie L. 
Clark, Henry 
Collins, Francis W. 
Chase, Anna G. 
Chase, Emily B. 
Carpenter, Belle F. 
Clarke, Rebecca C. 
Clarke, Ik F. 



Providence, 

North Providence, 

Tiverton, 

West Greenwich Centre, 
Mapleville, 
Wooiscvket, 
Medway Village, Mass., 
Pascoag, 
Che]iaehet, 
Greenville, 
Boston, 
Westerly, 
Woonsocket, 
Pawtucket, 
Woonsocket, 



Middletown, 

East Greenwich, 
Providence, 



January, 1873. 



.January, 18" 



January, 18" 



Kingston, 
Providence, 

Charlestown, 

Waketield, 

Providence, 

Bristol, 

Apponaug, 

North Providence, 

Manville, 

Albion, 

Paw tucket, 

Narragansett Pier, 

Newport, 

Cumberland Hill, 
Albion, 

Newport, 



132 



HISTORY OF THE 



Clarke J. P. 
( irandall, Stephen G. 
Chappell, M. Ilortense 
Cole, Martha 1). 
Case, James G. 
Clarke. Thomas II. 
Clarke, Henry W. 
Clarke, George 
Cooke, H. E. 
Church, George S. 
Carpenter, E. J. 
Conant, Rev. W. II. 
Chace, Harriet R. 
Chapin, Mary E. 
Cobb, 1). A. 
Cutting, Phebe A. 
Conley, Mary L. 
Carpenter. Miss L. M. 
Coe, Marcy 
Cole, Mary M. 
Cargill, Malvina 
Carpenter, George E. 
Cooke, John T. 
Clarke, Hannah E. 
Carr, J. P. 
Collins, Peleg 
Church, Calista 
Conistock, Amy L. 
Chase, Charles A. 
Chase. Rev. B. A. 
Chesbro, Mrs. A. L. 
Chase. Mr. W. E. 
Chase, Charles A. 
Collins, Naney 
Collins, Lizzie E. 
Chase, H. J. 
Dawley, Edward 
Davis, Ilattie 
DeWolf, Lizzie I 1 . 
Dixon, Irene 
Denaly, Kate 
Doran, Belle 
Darling. Katie 
Durfe,-, Joshua T. 
Daggett, M. Isabel 
Donnavan. Joanna 
Davis, Mrs. Thomas 



Exeter, 

Adamsville, 

Carolina, 

Warren, 

East Providence, 

Newport, 

Wyoming, 

Slatersville, 
Providence, 



January, 1872. 



January, 1873. 



Clayville, 

Valley Falls, 
Watchemoket, 
South Portsmouth, 
Wakefield, 
Jamestown, 
Anthony, 
Tiverton. 
Bnrrillville, 
Woonsocket, 
Diamond Hill, 
Providence, 



Providence, 

Newport, 

Bristol, 

Davisville, 

Wakefield, 

Rocky Brook, 

Providence, 

Pawtucket, 

Millville, Mass., 

Fall River, Mass. 

Providence, 



January, 1874. 



January, 1872. 



Pawtucket, 



January, 1873. 
January, 1874. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION 



133 



Eastman, J. 
Ela, Rev. David H. 
Esten, Ida L. 
Evvins, Margaret 
Faxon, Charles E. 
Field, Laura E. 
Freeman, Lester A. 
Fry, Mary E. 
Fairman, Mary C. 
Jb'itz, Frank 
Friend, R. M. 
Fry. Mattie 
Fuller, Rev. O. P. 
Fielden, Mrs. Annie F. 
Fales, Sarah E. 
Frcthingham, Mary A. 
Fisher. Annie 
Gould, Edwin W. 
Gladding, Lucy J. 
Griswold, Mrs. E. A. 
Greenough, J. C. 
Gates, Charles H, 
Gushee, L. L. 
Gordon. Mary L. 
Gardiner, Mrs. Bessie 
Greene, Martha A. 
Gray, Peace C. 
Gifford, Miss L. A. 
Grinnell, H. B. M.Mrs. 
Gardiner, Henry G. 
Gorton. Miss II. F. 
Gorton, Miss Etta C. 
Greene, Alice M. 
Greene, A. E. Miss 
Gardner, Ida M. 
Grant, Oiwille B. 
Greene, Millen S. 
Greene, Albert 
Greene, Ann E. 
Harvey, Clara B. 
Hazard, Rosa E. G. 
Hyde, Fred A. 
Hussey, Emm:i P. 
Hall, J. Milton 
Hewitt, Harriet E. 
Heywood, Almira L. 
Harris, Louise O. 



East Greenwich, 

Pawtucket, 

Providence, 



Carolina Mills, 
Pawtucket, 

Newport, 

Carolina Mills, 
Centreville, 
Providence, 
Newport, 

Olneyville, 
Providence, 



Warren, 

Pawtucket, 
Usquepaugh, 
Slocumville, 
Tiverton Four Cornel's, 
Adams vi lie, 
Pawtuxet,. 

Newport, 

Pawtucket, 
Newport, 
Laurel Hill, 
Providence, 
Carolina Mills, 
Westerly, 
Newport, 
Providence, 



January, 1872. 

January, 1873. 
January, 1874. 
January, 1872. 



January, U73. 



January, 1872. 



January, 1873. 
January, 1874. 
January, 1872. 



134 



HISTORY OF THE 



Harris, Mrs. M. A. 
Harden, Emily J. 
Hen irk, Emma 
Ham, Nancy S. 
Hull, Abhie A. 
Hathaway, Ella J. 
Howes, Charles E. 
Hornby, Anna M. 
Hull, John II. 
Hoxsie, Annie E. 
Hiscox, Lydia W. 
Hazard. Ella V. 
Henry, Mali a E. 
Hammett, Aliee 
•Horton, Edward A. 
Hunt, J. E. 
Hunt, Miss H. M. 
Horton. Vietor F. 
Hall, Martha W. 
Hopkins, Miss E. A. 
Hood, Benjamin W. 
Holden, Annie F. 
Hastings, Miss J. E. 
Harris, Mrs. E. T. 
Hoxsie, John 
Hopkins. John 
Hall, Mary E. 
Hall, Robert D. 
Hathaway, Miss Abbie A. 
Hammett, Lizzie 
Hammond, Mary E. 
Irons, Iila R. 
Irons, Thomas 
Irons, Daniel W. 
Jaekson, Miss Susan E. 
Jewett, Mary L. 
Jones. Alice J. 
Jenckes, William F. 
Jenckes. Hartwell II. 
Jennings. Andrew J. 
Jacobs, Miss 
Jones, Mary W. 
Knight, M. Carrie; 
Knight, W. A. 
Km yon, Emma F. 
King, A. F. 
Kavanagh, Miss M. J. 



Providence, 



Wakefield, 
East Greenwich, 

Westerly, 

Pawtucket, 

Tower Hill, 

Olneyville, 

Chariest own. 

Central Falls, 

Wickford, 

Newport, 

Watchemoket, 

Pawtucket, 

Newport, 

Olneyville, 

Providence, 



East Greenwich, 

North Attleboro', Mass. 

Pascoag, 

Shannock Mills, 

Uscpiepaugh, 

Westerly, 

Portsmouth, 

Providence, 

Newport, 

Middletown, 

Harmony, 

Phenix, 
Providence, 

Newport, 

Lime Lock, 
Warren, 
Central Falls, 
Newport, 
Phenix. 
Foster ("entre, 
Potter's Hill, 
Fdl Livei, Mass.. 
Newport, 



January, 1872. 



January, 18 



January, 18 



;:;. 



January, 1872. 
December, 1872. 

January, 1872. 



December, 1872. 
January, 1873. 



January, 1874. 
January 1872. 



RHODE ISLAN 



Kenneth, John 
Reach, J. A. 
Keith, Stillman H. 
King. Mrs. Celia A. 
Kelton, Fannie 
King, Edwin II. 
Kenyon, Henry 
Kenyon, D C. 
Keyser, R. S. 
Leavens, Rosamond R. 
Leavitt. Miss C. E. 
Lyon, Abbie F. 
Lincoln, M. 
Lawton, Eliza II. 
Lawton, Mrs. E. T. 
Lillibridge, Sarah M. 
Lawton. A. A. 
Lillibridge, A. A. 
Locke, Hannah W. 
Lewis, Martha B. 
Littlefield, N. W. 
Latbrop, M. E. 
Lincoln. Susan 
Lincoln, Eugene H. 
LeFavor, H. 
Lyon. Fannie M. 
LeFavor. Julia 
Murray, M. Addie 
Magill, Edward H. 
Manchester, A. J. 
Mann. Carrie 
Martin. Jennie 
Mowry, J. E. 
Marble, Sarah 
Monroe, William C. 
Moore, II. B. 
Meader, L. H. 
Mi lore, Andrew B. 
Moore. L E. 
Moore. M. A. 
Morey, Philip A. 
Miller, Ella A. 
Maryott, C. A. 
Miller, Belle 
Maxon, Abbie M. 
Martin, M. S. 
Miner, II. E. 



D INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 135 

January, 1872. 



AVyoming, 

Centredale, 

South Manchester, Conn., 

Providence, 



Watehemoket, 
Wyoming, 
East Greenwich, 

Providence, 

Centreville, 

Coventry, 

Tiverton, 

Richmond, 

Voluntown, 

Wyoming, 

Usquepaugh, 

Exeter, 

Newport, 

Providence, 

Central Falls, 
Centreville, 

Providence, 



Warren, 

North Providence, 

Woonsocket, 

Exeter, 
Albion, 
Usquepaugh, 



Barrington Centre, 

North Stonington, Conn., 

Manton, 

Westerly, 

Newport, 

North Stonington, Conn., 



January, 1873. 



January, 1874. 
January, 1872. 



December, 1872. 
" << 

January, 1873. 
'> «< 

tt « 

January, 1872. 



<< c 



13G 



HISTORY OF THE 



Mills, James C. 
Maryatt. C E. 
Morse, Nancy E. 
Manchester, Clara, 
Morgan, Mrs. Vana L. 
Macdonald, Julia E. 
Magoon, B. S. 
Metealf, Abbie B. 
Maxfield, I. G. 
Meiriam, W. W. 
Magoon, Mrs. Benjamin 
Mowry, S. Nellie 
Magoon, Mrs. J. R. 
Martin, W. E. 
Mowry, Eliza A. 
Mowry, Viola J. 
Nettleton, F. H. 
Newton, J. T. 
Nichols, MissO. E. 
Neville, C. A. 
North up, Mary E, 
North up, Sarah C. 
Nye. J. M 
Oldfield, Mary H. 
Owen, Lizzie 
Padelford, Gov. Seth 
Peck, Annie S 
Peck, George B. 
Packard, CM. 
Perry, Emma 
Potter, Minnie P. 
Pitman, Julia F. 

Pitcher, Fannie I. 

Pratt Lizzie F. 

Paine, E. Lizzie 

Parker, Ezra K. 

Paige, Nellie E. 

Peck, William T. 

Peabody, Miss J. S. 

Phillips, Mowry 

Potter, Lydia II. 

Phillips, William II. 

Perry, William II. 

Potter, Carrie C. 

Perry, Mrs. Sarah M. II. 

Prosscr, Mary J. 

Peckham, Alice 



Pawtucket, January, 1872. 

North Stonington, Conn., " " 

Woonsockct, " " 

Olneyville, December, 1872. 

Providence. January, 1873. 



Exeter. 

Olneyville, 

Georgiaville, 

Centre\ille, 

Natick, 

Providence, 



Clinton, 
Pendleton Hill, 
Providence, 
North Providence, 
Centieville, 
Providence, 
Centreville, 
Providence, 



Pawtucket, 

Central Falls, 

Newport, 

East Greenwich, 

Lonsdale, 

Pawtucket, 

Coventry, 

Slatersville, 

Warren , 

Newport, 

Pascoag, 

Olneyville, 

Charlestown, 

Providence, 

Uxbridge, Mass., 

Waketield, 

Westerly, 



January, 1874. 
January, 1872 

January, 1873. 
January, 1872. 



l< il 

ft (I 

(< IC 

December, 1872. 
i< .( 

January, 1873 

a << 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTHUCTIOX. 



137 



Phillips, Lilla 
Paterson, Ernestine 
Palsey, Abbie J. 
Potter, Abbie 
Paine, Lizzie M. 
Paine, Melvina 
Park, Mary F. 
Robinson, Lizzie S. 
Reynolds. Myrtie 
Robinson, Joseph K. 
Rickard, William W. 
Read, Miss G. I). 
Reynolds. Mary B. 
Rea, flattie L. 
Ray, Adeline 
Reynolds, T. O. 
Reynolds, Mary E. 
Reynolds, Amanda E. 
Rhoades, Benjamin H. 
Ray, Sarah M. 
Richards, J. S. 
Rounds, Cynthia 
Russell, Maria J. 
Riley, Mary A. 
Salisbury. Adela C. 
Swan, Allen L. 
Salisbury, Ellen A. 
Swift, Clara L. 
Shepley, Mary B. 
Sayles, Emeline A. 
Scott, Annie E. 
Searle, Miss A. E. 
Salmon, Mary 
Stetson, Mary S. 
Shaw, Emma 
Salisbury, Susan 
Snow, Sophie P. 
Sherman, Lizzie C. 
Sisson, Alice M. 
Still man. Hattie E. 
Smith. Eliza B. 
Still man, George C. 
Sherman, Charles H. 
Sheldon, Lizzie C. 
Swinburne, Elizabeth II. 
Salisbury. Emma F. 
Sutton, Emma F. 
IS 



Pascoag, 
North Foster, 
Rockland, 
East Greenwich, 
Central Falls, 

Woonsocket, 
Providence, 



North Kingstown, 

Barrington, 

Exeter, 

Chepachet, 

North Kingstown, 

Chepachet, 

Newport, 

Watchemoket, 

Cranston, 

South Foster, 

Pawtuxet, 

Westerly, 

Providence, 



January, 1873. 



January, 1874. 
January, 187-2. 



January, 1873. 



January, 1872. 



Phenix, 
Valley Falls, 
Anthony, 
Westerly, 

North Stonington, Conn., 

Exeler, 

Wakefield, 

Newport, 

South Scituate, 

Watchemoket, 



December, 1872. 
January, 1872. 



138 



HISTORY OF TIIK 



Simmons, Ilattie B. 
Simmons, A. 1!,. 
Smith, Mary C. 
Snow, S. A. 
Steere, Isaac 
Small, A. ]). 
Scarborough, Mary E. 
Swan, Harriet A. 
Stephens, Abbie F. 
Stanley, Lucy C. 
Sheffield, Mary C. 
Snow, Etta 
Sweet, S. S. 
Simmons, J. W. 
Sayles, H. C. 
Smart, Charles H. 
Spencer, Deacon Orin 
Shove, Miss M. A. 
Sherman, Lilian M. 
Steere, Mrs. Emeline E. 
Stanley, Miss L. C. 
Snell, Helen L. 
Steere, Ida E. 
Smith, A. A. 
Steele, Charlotte E. 
Saunders, A. A., M. D. 
Tillinghast, C. E. 
Tefft, Edward C 
Tefft, Ann E. 
Tillinghast, Leonard A. 
Thornton, Ella M. 
Terry, Mary E. 
Taylor, B. P. 
Tiffany, R. A. 
Tillinghast, Ira L. 
Tiffany, Miss E. R. 
Tucker, William F. 
Tompkins, Eleanor L. 
Thurber, Martha F. 
Taft, Maria L. 
Tinkler, Rosa 
Tillinghast, Iva L. 
Tanner, Abel 
Tetit, Azel W. 
Vincent, Charles G. 
Vestal, Tilghman R. 
Vose. P. C 



Pawtucket, 

Lonsdale, 
Pawtuxet, 
Uxbridge, Mass. 

Burrillville, 

Newport, 

Providence, 



January, 1872. 



January, 1873. 



Franklin, N. H. 

Bristol, 

Woonsocket, 

Coventry, 

Westerly. 

Burrillville, 



Providence, 

Providence, 
Pawtucket, 

Griswold, Conn. 

Kingston, 
<« 

Greene, 
Providence, 



Barrington, 

Wyoming, 

Barrington, 

Shannock Mills, 

Adamsville, 

Providence, 



Wyoming, 
Carolina Mills, 

Rockville, 
Columbia, Tenn. 
Woonsocket, 



January, 1874. 



January, 187-2. 



January, 1873. 

14 E( 

<< It 

(< It 

January, 1874. 
January, 1872. 



RHODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 



139 



Watson, Came 
Waldron, Sarah A. 
Willoughby, Lilian R. 
Wood, Mary E. 
, Williams, Alonzo 
Whittemore, Julia B. 
White, Ilattie 
Williams, Amy M. 
Wood, Caroline A. 
Wood, M. Lizzie 
Walker, W. S. 
Williams, S. Lila 
Walker. Flora L. 
Willard, M. H. 
Woodward, Ada 
Whaley, Mary A. 
Whipple, Emily F. 
Wood. Sarah E. 
Winsor, Ella J. 
Wood art, E. M. 
Whipple, Mary C. 
Wing. F. W. 
Warner. Prof. W. W. 
Willis, Mrs. Edwin 
White, Mrs. Rebecca H. 
Wallace, Nellie 
Watson, Rev. E. F. 
Wood, Ellen P. 
Walerman, W. W. 
Wentworth, Miss M. C. 
Wellman. Mrs. Almira R. 
Wilcox, Abbie E. 
Woodward, Emily 



Kingston, 

Wakefield, 

Providence, 



Woon socket, 

Crompton, 

Watchemoket, 

Newport, 

Olneyville, 

North Providence, 

Warwick Neck, 

East Providence, 

Newport, 

Coventry, 

Watchemoket, 

Greenville, 

Woonsocket, 

Olneyville, 

North Providence, 

Providence, 



Wakefield, 

Greene, 

Taunton, 

Westerly, 

Chepachet, 

Niantic, 



January, 1872. 



January, 1873. 



January, 1874. 



( ORKECTiosr.— In the preceding list of members John J. Stimson should have 
been marked with an asterisk (*) and a f; John Carter Brown with a f; and Rev. 
A lva Woods, D. D., with a f . 



140 HISTORY Ol THE 



Hon. JOHN KINGSBURY— Note, pp. 28, 42, 96. 

As the last sheet of this volume was passing through the press, the . 
sad announcement of Mr. Kingsbury's death was made. He died at his 
residence, on Angell street, Providence, December 21, 1874. aged 73 
years. The following notice of the deceased is copied, with a few 
changes, from the Providence Daily Journal of December 22d. 

Mr. KINGSBURY was a native of South Coventry. Connecticut, and 
was born in May, 1801. He was educated at Brown University, where 
he graduated with distinguished rank as a scholar in the class of 1826. 
While yet a student, within a few weeks o[ his graduation, having al- 
ready fixed upon teaching as his chosen profession, he became associated 
with the late Mr. G. A. Dewitt, in the instruction and management 
of the Providence High School, at, that time the principal school in the 
city. At the end of two years he commenced the " Young Ladies' 
High School," at the solicitation of many leading citizens of Providence, 
who had long felt the need of such an establishment for the education of 
their daughters. The new school, both in its instruction and in all its 
appointments, was of a higher grade than had been before known in this 
community. In 1848, he erected on Benefit street, from plans drawn by 
the late Thomas A. Teft't, the line school building now occupied by Rev. 
J. C. Stock bridge, D. D. This school lie maintained with unexampled 
prosperity for thirty years, during which he superintended the education 
of two generations of a large proportion of the foremost women of 
Providence, and of many from abroad. He retired from his long and 
most successful work in 1858, and the occasion was celebrated by a re- 
union of all who had been his pupils who were still among the living, 
witli testimonials of gratitude and respect, most honorable alike to the 
pupils and to their veteran instructor and friend. He had already re- 
ceived the appointment of State Commissioner of Public Schools, which 
li id been offered him by the Governor, so soon as his purpose was known 
of retiring from the labors of his school. This position he resigned in 
1859, and was immediately made President of the Washington In- 
surance Company, an ollice which he continued to hold to the time of 
his death. 

Though the founder and instructor of a private school, on which he 
depended for his living, he was, from the beginning, one of the most 
earnest and active friends and promoters of public education, and that 
too. long before any system for this purpose had been established in 
Rhode Island, and when the advocacy of such a system was anything 
but a passport to popularity. He did as much as any one in bringing 
public opinion to sanction and demand the legislation by which our pre- 
sent common schools were created, and lie gave a vast amount of time 
and effort to the encouragement and guidance! of those who superin- 
tended their early struggles for existence. He was the most active 



KIIODE ISLAND INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION. 141 

founder and long the President of the " Rhode Island Institute of In- 
struction," winch did so much Lo sustain the labors of Mr. Barnard, the 
first Commissioner of our State schools, and in a great variety of ways 
ho rendered services which, possibly, no other man among >is at that 
time would have been able to render. In promotion of the general 
cause of education he also assisted in founding the "American Institute 
of Instruction, 1 ' that national association of teachers, which has con- 
tributed so largely to the elevation of the teachers' profession throughout 
the country. He was the President of this body for two years and for 
more than twenty years one of its councillors and managers. 

In the early scientific pursuits of the ''Franklin Society."' Mr. KINGS- 
BURY took a leading part, and was for several years President of the 
Society. He has been for the past twenty years one of the trustees of 
the " Butler Hospital for the Insane," and lias given much attention to 
the interests of that institution. In 1844 he was chosen a member of the 
Board of Trustees of Brown University, and in this capacity lie has ren- 
dered most useful services to the place of his education. He has ever 
since been actively engaged not only in its immediate management, but 
also in the efforts which from time to time have been set on foot forin- 
creasing its endowments and enlarging its usefulness. In 1853 he was 
raised to its Board of Fellows, and at the same time was chosen Secre- 
tary of the Corporation, an office which he continued to hold to the end 
of his life. In recognition of his various and eminent services to the 
cause of education, the University, in 1850, conferred on him the hono- 
rary degree of Doctor of Laws. 

On coming to Providence, as a student in the college, in 1822, Mr. 
Kingsbury connected himself with the Richmond Street Congregational 
Church, and of the interests of that church he was long a most effi- 
cient promoter. When in 1851 it was proposed by a portion of its mem- 
bers to establish the Central Congregational Church, and to erect a new 
house of worship, in another part of the city, he was by common consent 
placed at the head of the movement. In connection with both of these 
churches he has througn life been eminent as a teacher of the Bible. 
The Sunday class which he early established, and maintained, we be- 
lieve, nearly to the end of his life, has embraced not only large numbers 
of young men of the city, but first and last, upwards of two hundred 
students of the University. He was for many years at the head of the 
Young Men's Bible Society, and also for several years, President of the 
Young Men's Christian Association 

It is services such as these, generously and quietly rendered to so 
many of the most important educational, social and religious interests of 
the community, that have ennobled the career which we have thus im- 
perfectly sketched. 



142 



SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS. SUPERINTENDENTS. 



STATE COMMISSIONERS. 



Henry Barnard, 
Elish'a !:. Potter, Jr., 
Roberl Aliyn, - 
John K Lngsbury, 
Joshua B. Chapin, 

Henry Rousmaniere, 
Thomas W.Bicknell, 
Thomas B. Stockwell, 



NAMES. 



Tears. Served 



1SI5 to L849.4 years. 

I- in to 1854 5 " 

[854 to 1857.3 " 

]S.-)7 1o 1859.2 " 

is:,!) to 1861.2 " 

Ii>63 to 1869.6 " 

1861 to 1863.2 " 

1869 to 1875. 6 " 
IS7:>to 



SUPERINTENDENTS OF SCHOOLS.— 1874-75.* 



Town oe City. 



Post Lddress. 



Providence, 


Rev. Daniel I. each, 


Providence. 


Newport. 


Thomas II. Clarke, - 


Newport. 


Barrington, 


Isaac F. Cady, A. M., 


Harrington Centre. 


Bristol, - 


Roberl s. Andrews, - 


Bristol. 


Burrillville, 


Rev. William Fitz, 


Pascoag. 


( lharlestown, -' 


W illiam F. Tucker, - 


shannock Mills. 


Coventry, - 


E. K. Parker, 


Summit. 


Cranston, 


. 




Cumberland, 


Francis S. Weeks, 


Woonsocket. 


i !a -i ' ■ reenwich, 


Peleg (;. Kenyon, 


East Greenwich. 


Easl Providence, 


Rev. R. II. Paine, 


Watchemoket. 


Exeter, - 


Willet II Arnold, - 


Exeter. 


Foster, 


< ieorge S. Tillinghast, • 


Foster ( lenl re. 


(Vlocester, 


Rev. John M. Purkis. 


< Ihepachet. 


Hopkinton, 


Rev. S. S. < Iriswold, 


Hopkinton. 


Jamestown, - 


Elijah Anthony, 


la tnestown. 


Johnston, - 


William A. Phillips, 


Olneyville. 


Lincoln, 


Rev. James H. Lyon, 


Centra] Falls. 


Lit! Le Compton, - 


Benjamin F. Wilbor, Jr., 


Little Compton. 


Middletown, - 


John Gould, .... 


New port. 


N< ■ Shoreham, - 


Giles II. Pcabody, 


New Shoreham. 


Nort h Kingstown, 


a. ;;. Chadsey, 


Wickford. 


North Pn ividence, 


Marcus M. Cowing, 


I'rov tdence. 


Not Hi Smithfleld, 


Rev. Stephen Phillips, 


Woonsocket. 


Pawtucket, 


Andrew Jencks, - 


Pawtucket. 


Portsmouth. - 


( Ieorge Manchester, 


Newport. 


Richmond, 


i,V\ . » .. Tillinghast, 


Wyoming. 


Scituate, 


l,v\ . .1. M. Brewster, 


North Scituate. 


Soul h Kingstown, 


N. C. Peckham, Ji., 


Wakefield. 


Smithfleld, 


lion. Samuel Famum, 


< reorgiaville. 


Tiverton, - 


John F. < lhase, 


Ball River, Mass. 


Warwick, 


John F. Brown, 


Nat irk. 


\\ a rren, 


i.v\ , s. K. Dexter, 


Warren. 


Westerly, 


l.v\ . H.M. Eaton, - 


Westerly. 


\\ esl ( Ireenwich, 


Charles F. Carpenter, - 


Summit. 


Woonsocket, - 


1,'i'V. C. .1. While, 


Woonsocket. 



• lii nineteen towns the salaries of Superintendents are Bxed. Maximum salary 
(Providence), $2,500; minimum salary, (Barrington), $25; Newporl pays $2,000; 
Woonsocket, $500; Bristol, $400. Onetownpays $3per day ami expenses; one 
town $3 per day ; one town $2.50 per day; one town has no fixed salary; two 
towns no salary; ten towns compensation not reported. 



INDEX 

To History of R. I. Institute of Instruction. 



92, 93 



Addresses, synopsis of, by Lieut. Gov. C. C. Van Zandt, Hon. 

Thomas A. Doyle, Hon. John Eaton, Rt Rev. T. M. 

Clark, Hon. Thomas W. Bicknell, President E. G. 

Robinson, - 

Allyn, Rev. Robert, services of, - . 39' "^ 

Alvord, Prof. C. M., death of, ' 75 

Brief history of education in early times, - . 5 _ 8 

Barnard, Hon. Henry, services of, - . 15 _ 34 

Bicknell, Hon. Thomas W., services of, - - 44-46 

Bailey, Prof., lecture on reading by, - gg 

Boy den, Rev. John Jr., notice of, . . 106 

Baker, Mr. William S., services of, - . 52 

Chapin, Hon. Joshua B., services of, - - 42-43 

Colburn, Dana P., notice of, 
Clarke, Hon. G. L. ; address of, - 
Conclusion, - 



100 
68 

103 

Constitution of Institute, - . - 111 112 

Charter " - _ _ 113' 114 

DeMunn, X. W., method of teaching geography by - '67 

Evening schools, history of, - . i o lu3 

Eaton, Hon. John, address of, - - - 82 83 

Education in New York, Xevv Jersey, Pennsylvania and In- 
diana. 1844, 1847, 
Fenner, Gov. James, and Newport school fund 
Gamwell, Albert A., notice of, 



14, 15 



71 



Greene, Prof. S. S., addresses of, - - . 87 96 

Hughes, John L., notice of, - . . ' 36 

Howland, John, services of, " - - 12 

Hundredth meeting of the Institute, (thirtieth annual), 76 

Sow can our schools be improved? (L. W. Russell), - 89 90 
Ives, Moses B., anecdote of, 



105 



144 INDEX. 

Institute meetings, synopsis of, - - - 46-71 

Increasing interest, in annual meetings, - 71 

Importance of elementary education, S. Austin, - ( .M. !)."> 

Jaegar, Prof. B., notioe of, - - 38 

Kingsbury. Hon. John, sei'vices of, 28,41; address of, - 96 

Kile, Prof. (). C.. notice of, - - 94 

Leach, Rev. Daniel, address of, - - - 86,87 

Lyon. President Merrick, address of, - - 84 

List of members of Institute, 1845 to 1*74, - - 120, 139 

Movements in favor of public free schools, - 10-13 

Modern progress in physical science, by D. W. Iloyt, - 76-79 

Manchester, Albert J., "Teaching history," by - 67 

Mowry. William A., address of, - - - 90,91 

Mann, Horace, method of dispersing a mob, - 14 

Normal School, history of, - - 98, 101 

Old schoolmasters, - - - 7,9 

Officers of the Institute, 1845-1874, - - 115-119 

Perry, Hon. Amos, letter from, 20; report by, 25; address of, \)1 

Programme of topics for 1845 anil 1847, - - 23 

Providence schools, - - - • 13. 3 5 

Potter, lion. Elisha R. Jr., services of, - - 37-39 

Preparatory classical studies, by Prof. J. L. Lincoln, 79, 80 

Padelford, Gov. Seth, address and services of, - 68 

Rhode Island Institute of Instruction organized, - 22 

Reunion oi original members, ... 95-97 

Rhode Island Educational Union, its work, - 102 

Heading, a paper on, by J. C. Greenough, • - 81 

Rhode Islet id Schoolmaster merged in a New England journal, 114 

Rousmaniere. lion. Henry services of, - 44 

State Agent appointed, ... i;> 

Sewall, Judge Samuel, gives land to support schools, - 7 

School laws revised, ... 16 

State School Commissioner appointed, - - 18 

State expenditure for schools, 1873, - - 35 

Snow, V. B., lecture on moral instruction, by - - <!4 

Shepard, Rev. Dr. 'I nomas, services of, - - 105 

Staples, Rev. C A., address of, - - - 85, 86 

Stone, Rev. E. M., address of, - - 97 

State Commissioners, - - - 142 

Superintendents, city and town in state, - J42 

Turpih, William, notice of, - - - 10 

Thought and expression, by Prof. S. S. Greene, - 73, 74 

Text-books, by -I. ('. Greenough, - - 84 

Teftt, Thomas A., notice of, - - 27 

Updike. Hon. Wilkins, speech of, - - 17, 26 

Wayland, President Francis, notice of, - - 104 



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